‘Both lives matter’, MPs told in abortion decriminalisation debate

MPs have spoken in defence of the unborn and the welfare of expectant mothers in Parliament.

During a Westminster Hall debate triggered by a petition demanding that abortion be decriminalised, it was pointed out that such a move risks a significant rise in the number of unborn children being aborted and would endanger women’s health.

In Great Britain, abortion is currently permitted for most reasons up to 24 weeks, and up to birth if the unborn child is deemed to have a disability. Inducing a miscarriage outside of the exemptions remains a crime, punishable by up to life in prison, though convictions are rare and have only resulted in very short sentences.

Pro-life supporters attacked

Speaking on behalf of the proposals, Tony Vaughan MP reported that the person behind the petition believed “there is a lot of misinformation about abortion, especially late-term ones, and that that is linked to the rise of extreme ideologies and misogyny”.

Stella Creasy accused two members of the House of Lords — Lord Hintze and Lord Farmer — of funding “anti-abortion activism”. She also criticised March for Life, pro-life student groups and “lobbying” MPs for adopting ‘Trumpian’ strategies in their opposition to abortion.

Creasy has tabled an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which would allow a woman to kill her unborn baby at any stage of pregnancy without sanction. A similar amendment has been tabled by her Labour colleague Antonia Antoniazzi. A vote on the Bill is expected later this month.

The architect of Westminster’s assisted suicide Bill, Kim Leadbeater, also welcomed the proposal, arguing: “Whatever stage we are at in our lives, it is important that we are allowed to make choices about our own bodies, free from the fear of criminalisation or judgment”.

Lack of public support

However, many MPs opposed a change to the law, including Independent MP Alex Easton, who said the public wanted tighter controls on abortion, not further liberalisation.

He explained: “Polling by Savanta ComRes, a highly respected polling company, has shown that 70% of women support a reduction in the abortion time limit, and 91% want an explicit ban on sex-selective abortions.”

Father of the House,  Sir Edward Leigh, warned that if the proposals go ahead “it becomes possible to have an abortion at home up to birth”. That, he said, would surely “endanger women’s health.”

Sir John Hayes said that advocates of abortion and assisted suicide both assume that individual autonomy “trumps all else” and is considered more important than our obligations to others, society, country and “those greater duties to God”.

Profoundly irresponsible

Contesting Tony Vaughan’s claim that there is no evidence decriminalisation will increase abortions, the DUP’s Carla Lockhart pointed to data from New Zealand, which witnessed a 43% increase in late-term abortions the year after the law changed.

She went on to say: “One baby is lost to abortion every two and a half minutes; that is 26 lives every hour—and this debate will last three hours. That is stark. I come at this issue from the perspective of life and the protection of life. In every pregnancy, both lives matter.”

One baby is lost to abortion every two and a half minutes

She warned that if the proposals were adopted, “more women would take abortion pills away from a clinical context late in pregnancy, endangering their lives and leading to the tragic deaths of viable unborn babies.

“Permitting that would be profoundly irresponsible. Ideology would be trumping women’s safety.”

Lives cut short

Jim Shannon described the proposal as “deeply concerning”. He explained: “every abortion is a tragedy for both the woman and the unborn child whose life is cut short”.

The DUP MP urged colleagues “to consider the full ramifications of decriminalisation of abortion.

“It will harm more than help, and those who suffer will be women who endanger their own safety and that of the unborn children, who are equally important. We must protect both equally. Decriminalisation of abortion would fail to accomplish that.”