A “barbaric” abortion decriminalisation clause in the Crime and Policing Bill, which would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, including sex-selective purposes, and at any point up to and during birth, would reintroduce the backstreet abortion, a prominent Peer in the House of Lords argues.
The clause – clause 191 – was introduced by Tonia Antoniazzi MP in the Commons after just 46 minutes of speeches. There was no prior consultation with the public, no Committee Stage scrutiny, no evidence sessions and no impact assessment.
Baroness Monckton has written that the clause would remove “all remaining legal invigilation of women regarding abortion, allowing a mother-to-be to abort her baby, up to full term, for any reason at all, including its sex”.
The clause is “a reckless and radical proposal, with implications both for the mental and physical health of the mother, and disastrous consequences for the child”, Monckton wrote.
She raised concerns that allowing a mother to end the life of her unborn child for any reason at any time would likely increase the prevalence of women suffering coercive late-term abortions, due to abusive partners who may highlight the lack of legal consequences.
Monckton argued that this proposal “would, in effect, reintroduce the backstreet abortion, as women beyond the current 24-week legal limit are in effect to be encouraged to abort at home, on their own, using pills ordered through the post, which are not designed for use outside of a clinical context beyond ten weeks”.
Baroness Monckton stated that this decriminalisation clause would “remove the few remaining legal protections for unborn children, one in three of whom are already aborted in this country”.
“Is this what we really want, as a nation? That we descend into this moral darkness, protecting neither the mother nor the child?” she added.
Baroness Monckton, along with other female Peers, tabled an amendment to the Bill at Committee Stage that would remove clause 191 from the Crime and Policing Bill.
Baroness Monckton criticises abortion clause during House of Lords debate
During the House of Lords Committee Stage debate on the Crime and Policing Bill on Monday 2 February, Baroness Monckton criticised the abortion decriminalisation clause for the lack of scrutiny it has received, saying, “Good laws require careful thought and prior consideration regarding any unintended consequences”.
“Clause 191 fails to meet these criteria and should not become law. It was hastily added to an unrelated Bill and concerns a proposal that was neither a government manifesto commitment, nor called for by the public, nor subject to even rudimentary scrutiny”, she added.
She argued that the clause would create a discrepancy between the legal abortion limit and what the decriminalisation would allow, saying, “It is not accidental that the legal limit for abortion is 24 weeks. That marks roughly the stage at which the baby is fully viable when born. This clause not only fails even to consider that person but would endanger the mother”.
Baroness Monckton reiterated that those who lobbied for the introduction of ‘pills by post’, which enables at-home abortions, would rather “seek an even more radical law that would cover up the consequences of their scheme and make further such cases more likely” than repeal it.
Following the debate, she said, “I was pleased to be able to speak for many peers and, I believe, most of the country today in opposing the extreme proposal to remove the legal deterrent against women aborting their babies up to birth”.
“Such a change in the law would seriously endanger women’s lives because of the risks of self-induced late-term abortions away from a clinical context, and likely lead to increased numbers of viable babies’ lives being ended. It would also decriminalise self-induced sex-selective abortions. I very much hope peers will support my amendment at Report stage and stop these proposals from becoming law”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Baroness Monckton is drawing much-needed attention to the horrific abortion decriminalisation clause in the Crime and Policing Bill”.
“This clause is incredibly dangerous, posing risks to the health of women and leaving them wide open to coercion and abuse. Late-term abortions are much more likely to have serious complications for the woman, and by removing any potential legal consequences for a woman ending her own pregnancy at a late term, this clause is making such complications much more likely”.
“Peers should rally around Baroness Monckton’s amendment to remove clause 191 from the Bill if they really do have women’s best interests at heart”.
