London Mayor pushes TfL to lift ban on abortion decriminalisation ads

Sir Sadiq Kahn is putting pressure on Transport for London (TfL) to display controversial advertisements which call for abortion to be decriminalised.

The posters, part of a campaign by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), urge voters to lobby MPs for a change in the law to allow a woman to kill her unborn baby at any stage of pregnancy without sanction.

TfL refused to accept the advertisements, informing the abortion giant that the campaign was unnecessarily critical of the police. Within days of the story breaking, Kahn launched an “urgent review” and called for the decision to be reversed.

Policing criticised

BPAS launched the campaign across England and Wales in support of an amendment to the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill tabled by Labour’s Tonia Antoniazzi aimed at decriminalising abortion. The Bill’s Report Stage is expected to begin next week.

The display boards outline cases investigated by the police where a mother was suspected of illegally ending the life of her unborn child.

In a public statement, a TfL spokesperson said: “The proposed advertisement did not comply with TfL advertising policy because it made negative references about the police.”

BPAS responded that it will appeal against the decision and accused TfL of silencing the voices of women. Antoniazzi reacted to the news by claiming that the police “cannot be trusted with abortion law”.

‘Extreme and dangerous’

The Christian Institute’s Director Ciarán Kelly warned MPs against backing Antoniazzi’s “extreme and dangerous” New Clause 1 amendment.

He explained: “As well as causing the death of more unborn babies, her proposal risks an increase in coercion and other harm to women.

“In conjunction with the pills-by-post scheme, expectant mothers will be encouraged to have DIY abortions at home late in their pregnancy. Beyond the clear and obvious physical dangers, this invites the risk of psychological trauma from delivering a dead baby.”