Urgent calls to pause ‘reckless’ new abortion legislation

MPs and Peers have urged the Government to halt legislation allowing a woman to kill her unborn baby at any stage of pregnancy without sanction.

In a letter addressed to Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, 79 parliamentarians said it would be “reckless” for such a significant change in law to take place without an impact assessment and the publication of appropriate guidance for healthcare professionals.

In March, the House of Lords voted through a controversial clause in the Crime and Policing Bill which effectively decriminalises a mother in England and Wales for aborting her unborn child up to birth.

Real danger

The letter highlighted several scenarios which needed to be addressed, including what a doctor should do if a woman sought medical assistance immediately after inducing a late term pregnancy, when it is illegal for healthcare professionals to assist.

It also asked what paramedics ought to do “if they arrive at the scene of a late-term, self-induced abortion and the baby demonstrates signs of life? Can you assure us that the baby’s right to life would be protected?”

The signatories noted that such scenarios are not “fanciful” as “disturbing cases” of late term abortions had already occurred and they warned of a “real danger that such instances will increase with tragic consequences for women and viable unborn babies”.

Right to Life UK spokeswoman Catherine Robinson said: “Pro-abortion MPs hijacked a government bill to rush through this radical and seismic change to our abortion laws after just 46 minutes of backbench debate”.

She added: “Bringing the abortion up to birth clause into force before a proper impact assessment has been produced, and before police, prosecutors and healthcare professionals have been given clear guidance on these and other serious issues, would be deeply irresponsible.”

Loopholes

Last month, a woman in Georgia was charged with murder after a failed late-term abortion allegedly caused her daughter to die an hour after birth.

Alexia Moore, 31, is said to have arrived at hospital with abdominal pain after taking abortion drugs. She later gave birth to a baby girl estimated to be between 22 and 24 weeks gestation. Had the pills caused the baby to die in the womb, Moore would not have been prosecuted.

The Foundation to Abolish Abortion stated on X that if Georgia “did not have loopholes keeping abortion legal for women, this mother would not have attempted an abortion in the first place, and perhaps her precious daughter would still be alive today”.