70% of candidates who are standing down ahead of the upcoming General Election take a predominantly pro-abortion position on the issue of abortion.
An analysis by the Right To Life UK Public Affairs team of the voting records of the 132 MPs that have decided not to stand again in the upcoming election on 4 July shows that 92 (70%) take a predominantly pro-abortion stance on the issue of abortion. Only 23 (17%) of those MPs standing down take a predominantly pro-life stance on the issue of abortion.
Right To Life UK has launched a major General Election campaign – the Vote For Both Lives campaign – a large-scale initiative that will be run throughout the country in the lead-up to election day on 4 July.
Among those pro-abortion MPs not standing in the next election include Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and Labour Party MP Harriet Harman, both of whom voted in favour of making abortion legal up to birth throughout England and Wales in 2017, as well as voting to impose abortion on Northern Ireland in 2019.
On the pro-life side, Dr Lisa Cameron MP is also among those not standing for re-election. Dr Lisa Cameron, voted against the introduction of abortion buffer zones in England and Wales in 2020 and defected to the Conservative Party in 2023 due to “toxic and bullying” treatment from her colleagues in the Scottish National Party. She had previously faced death threats and potential deselection from her party for holding pro-life views.
Vote For Both Lives
As part of the Vote For Both Lives campaign, Right To Life UK is mobilising voters in constituencies throughout the country to contact their local MP candidates and ask them to sign the Both Lives Pledge.
The Both Lives Pledge outlines three policy changes that are designed to increase protection for babies in the womb and stop pregnancy discrimination for women – policies that will save lives by protecting and supporting both mother and child. The Both Lives Pledge asks MP candidates to commit to stopping discrimination against baby girls by supporting a law change to clarify that sex-selective abortion is illegal; bringing UK law closer to the laws in the majority of EU countries by voting to lower the gestational time limit for abortion and supporting women in the workplace by backing policies designed to stop pregnancy and maternity discrimination.
Independent polling by ComRes shows that all three policy changes are strongly supported by the public. 89% of the general population and 91% of women agree that gender-selective abortion should be explicitly banned by the law. 70% of women in the UK want to see the time limit for abortion reduced to 20 weeks or below. 79% of the general population and 84% of women agree that women who want to continue with their pregnancies, but are under financial pressure to have an abortion, should be given more support. Ending pregnancy and maternity discrimination would help provide many women across the country with the financial support they need to care for their children and themselves.
Abortion statistics released by the Department of Health and Social Care on 23 May this year show the highest number of abortions ever recorded in England and Wales, with 252,122 taking place in 2022, an increase of 37,253 (17.34%) from 2021.
After failing to make extreme changes to abortion legislation during the last Parliament, the abortion lobby has made it clear that they will be back to attempt to introduce extreme abortion legislation in the next Parliament.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said: “We are very excited to be launching this campaign as the UK faces what is one of the most important elections for life issues in a number of decades. Our analysis shows that of the 132 MPs that have stood down ahead of the General Election, 92 take a predominantly pro-abortion stance on the issue of abortion”.
“In the next Parliament, the abortion lobby will likely be back in full force, pushing to introduce new extreme abortion legislation”.
“The Both Lives Pledge outlines three policy changes that are designed to increase protection for babies in the womb and stop pregnancy discrimination for women. These are policies that will save lives by protecting and supporting both mother and child”.
