The UK Government has brought forward regulations that would force schools in Northern Ireland to teach students aged 11 to 16 years old (key stages 3 and 4) about abortion.
The regulations were debated by the House of Commons Second Delegated Legislation Committee on Monday 26 June and MPs will vote on them on Wednesday 28 June.
The approach taken by the UK Government has been heavily criticised by the highly respected House of Lords Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, which is tasked with reviewing the policy effects of statutory instruments and other forms of secondary legislation. The Committee has drawn the regulations to the special attention of the House and published a report detailing their concerns.
The Committee has highlighted that, unusually, there has been no public consultation on the regulations prior to them coming into effect, suggesting that given the controversial nature of the policy change, a full public consultation ought to be conducted. It highlighted how prior to other comparable policy changes, including changes to Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in England, public consultations were carried out.
The Committee also criticised the lack of guarantees that procedures allowing parents to withdraw their children from being taught about abortion will be in place before the policy implementation date. They warned, “The Committee believes that this will be of considerable concern to parents in NI”.
A number of submissions made to the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee were also highly critical of the UK Government’s decision to bring forward the regulations. They included raising concerns that teachers who are morally opposed to abortion would not have the option of opting out of teaching abortion to students.
Girls taught how to secretly get abortions without their parents knowing
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, has claimed that the regulations will “mirror the approach taken in England”. If this is the case, it is highly controversial to force Northern Ireland schools to teach children about abortion given what is currently being taught regarding abortion in the RSE curriculum in England.
England’s RSE guidance states that there are “many excellent resources available, free of charge, which schools can draw on”, specifically listing the Sexwise website as a resource for “up to date information on all aspects of sexual and reproductive health…which teachers may find helpful for their knowledge”.
The Sexwise resource outlines how to get an abortion (including late-term abortions) and teaches girls how to go about secretly having an abortion without their parents knowing.
In the same resource, students who are pregnant are encouraged to book an appointment at an abortion clinic, even if they are unsure about whether they want to have an abortion.The resource states that “Abortion is safer the earlier it takes place, so even if you’re not certain about your decision, it’s a good idea to get a referral. You’ll always be given time to make up your mind, if you need it”.
Contact details for the three largest abortion providers in the UK, all of whom received the majority of their income from performing abortions, are provided in the resource.
This includes MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes), which the Care Quality Commission accused of paying staff bonuses for encouraging women to undergo terminations. At all 70 Marie Stopes clinics, inspectors also found evidence of a policy that saw staff utilise a high-pressure sales tactic, calling women who had decided against having an abortion to offer them another appointment. The report also stated that parents, partners or friends of pregnant women who might persuade them to think again about the termination were “seen as an inconvenience” and that “their presence was strongly discouraged”.
Extensive misinformation being taught in schools
An RSE Hub developed “to strengthen the quality and consistency of RSE in the South West and nationally” recommends teachers use resources provided by Education for Choice.
Its resources are very biased and include extensive misinformation, for example, they state that “before the limit of viability (24 weeks in the UK), the foetus is not considered a human being.”
To state that an unborn child under 24 weeks is not considered a human being is simply an opinion and should be labelled as such.
In the “Why do some people oppose abortion?” section of the resource, the EFC states “… if a fertilised cell is a human being, then using a condom or masturbating is tantamount to murder (a view shared by the Catholic Church) as trillions of potential lives die in teenage boys’ bellybuttons every day.”
This statement misrepresents the teachings of the Catholic Church, one of the major providers of education in Northern Ireland, along with falsely claiming that those opposed to abortion believe that gametes, unfertilised sperm and eggs, require the same protection in law that an embryo or fetus should have.
Right To Life UK is encouraging members of the public to contact their MP and ask them to vote against the regulations. They have launched an easy-to-use tool that enables people to find their MP and contact them – this tool can be accessed at www.righttolife.org.uk/NISchoolsVote.
Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “We are calling on MPs to reject regulations brought forward by the UK Government that would force schools in Northern Ireland to teach students aged 11 to 16 years old about abortion”.
“Seventy-nine percent of respondents to a public consultation on introducing abortion to Northern Ireland opposed introducing abortion to the region and polling showed that two-thirds of women in Northern Ireland did not want abortion laws imposed by Westminster”.
“The people of Northern Ireland made it clear that they did not want abortion introduced to Northern Ireland, but the UK Government ignored them and forced it on them”.
“Now the UK Government is adding insult to injury and forcing schools throughout Northern Ireland to teach about abortion in schools”.
“Northern Ireland will now be going from a country where parents can decide when and how to teach their children about abortion, to all schools, including faith schools, being forced to teach students aged 11 to 16 years old about abortion”.
“Chris Heaton-Harris has claimed that the regulations will mirror the approach taken in England. If this is the case, it is highly controversial to force Northern Ireland schools to teach children about abortion given what is currently being taught regarding abortion as part of the RSE curriculum in England”.
“What is being taught in schools goes far beyond outlining what the abortion law in England is. One resource that is recommended in the provided guidance to teachers outlines how to get an abortion, including late-term abortions, and teaches girls how to go about secretly having an abortion without their parents knowing”.
“In the same resource, students who are pregnant are encouraged to book an appointment at an abortion clinic, even if they are unsure about whether they want to have an abortion. Contact details for the three largest abortion providers in the UK, all of whom received the majority of their income from performing abortions, are provided in the resource”.
“This includes MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes), which the Care Quality Commission accused of paying staff bonuses for encouraging women to undergo terminations. At all 70 Marie Stopes clinics, inspectors also found evidence of a policy that saw staff utilise a high-pressure sales tactic, calling women who had decided against having an abortion to offer them another appointment. The report also stated that parents, partners or friends of pregnant women who might persuade them to think again about the termination were ‘seen as an inconvenience’ and that ‘their presence was strongly discouraged’”.
“Looking at these resources, it’s clear that if schools in Northern Ireland are forced to teach about abortion, many more lives will likely be lost to abortion in Northern Ireland”.
“MPs must reject these regulations when they are brought forward for a vote this week”.
