Around 11.45am tomorrow, Second Reading of the Crime and Policing Bill will take place in the House of Lords.
As you may recall, the Crime and Policing Bill was hijacked by Tonia Antoniazzi MP, with an amendment that introduced Clause 191, which is now part of the Bill.
Had this change been introduced as a standalone bill – the normal route for major law changes – it would have received many hours of detailed Commons scrutiny, including a full Second Reading debate, line-by-line examination in Public Bill Committee, further consideration and amendments at Report Stage, and a concluding Third Reading debate.
Instead, pro-abortion MPs forced through this radical and seismic change to our abortion laws after just forty-six minutes of backbench debate. There was no public consultation, no Committee Stage scrutiny and no evidence sessions.
If Clause 191 becomes law, it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason – including for sex-selective purposes – at any point up to and during birth, likely leading to a significant increase in the number of women performing dangerous late-term abortions at home.
This would likely lead to the lives of many more women being endangered because of the risks involved with ‘DIY’ late-term abortions and also tragically lead to an increased number of babies’ lives being ended well beyond the 24-week abortion time limit and beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TOMORROW?
At Second Reading of the Crime and Policing Bill, Peers will be debating the wider Bill, including the Antoniazzi abortion up to birth clause (191).
There are a number of Peers who have put their names down to speak who oppose Clause 191.
As it is the convention that there is not normally a vote at Second Reading for Bills in the House of Lords, there is unlikely to be a vote on the Bill tomorrow.
Instead, this stage provides an opportunity for Peers to make it clear in their speeches that there is widespread opposition to this extreme proposed law change – and help with building wider opposition to the abortion up to birth clause in the Lords.
If you’d like to follow proceedings tomorrow, you can watch the debate live from around 11.45am on Parliament TV by clicking here.
Throughout the day, our team will also be sharing video clips of the most important speeches, along with live commentary, on our X account here.
If you are on X, do follow us so you can keep up to date during the day.
