Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting MP, has said that his mum was going to abort him but decided not to go through with it, and in his new book explains how his life was saved by a fry-up.
“My mum had an appointment booked for an abortion … She decided she wasn’t going to go through with it but she knew she was going to come under enormous pressure from her mum and my dad, who wasn’t ready to be a father at the age of 17”, he said.
“There was a family consensus that an abortion was the right thing to do, so almost as an insurance against going through with it she cooked herself a full English breakfast. When my nan came in and said, ‘It’s time to go,’ she said, ‘I can’t, they told me I shouldn’t have anything for breakfast on the day of the procedure.’ It was an extraordinary act of courage and defiance”.
The MP, who grew up in povertyy and will be in the cabinet if Labour wins the next election, explains that he thinks his mother is the reason he’s in parliament rather than prison.
“I think my mum, having decided to keep me, was absolutely determined to prove herself as a mother. When I was growing up, there was always a bookshelf with books. She said, ‘I’m not going to let you be made to feel stupid in the way that I was growing up’.”
Streeting remains a supporter of abortion even though he was almost aborted
Despite his escape from an abortion by his mother’s courageous decision, Streeting has been a strong supporter of abortion and assisted suicide since he entered parliament in 2015. He voted in favour of assisted suicide in 2015 and more recently, he voted in favour of making silent prayer and consensual communication outside an abortion clinic a criminal offence. Last year, he also voted to allow abortion before 10 weeks to take place entirely outside of a clinical setting in a ‘DIY’ home abortion.
When asked by a constituent to sign the Both Lives Pledge he said he would not support the pledge. The pledge outlines three policy changes that are designed to increase protection for babies in the womb and end pregnancy discrimination against women – policies that would save lives by protecting and supporting both mother and child.
The Both Lives Pledge policy changes are: stopping discrimination against baby girls by supporting a law change to clarify that sex-selective abortion is illegal; bringing the law in England and Wales closer to the laws in the majority of EU member states by lowering the gestational time limit for abortion; and supporting women in the workplace by backing policies designed to end pregnancy and maternity discrimination.
When asked by the Times about the apparent discrepancy between his own escape from abortion and his strong support of abortion, he said “I strongly support a woman’s right to choose”.
“Instinctively I would support decriminalisation but I think there are lots of consequences of that policy that need to be properly thought through”.
The full decriminalisation of abortion would scrap the current 24-week time limit for abortion, and abortion would be available on demand, for any reason, up to birth.
He was also asked about the recent case of Carla Foster who was imprisoned for having an abortion at 8 months, long past the point at which a baby can survive outside the womb and long past the 24-week abortion limit in the UK.
He said “In relation to the case that’s hit the headlines I just think it’s horrific on every level”.
Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said “It’s astounding that a man who recognises his own mother’s bravery, and is presumably grateful for her decision, has voted in favour of more extensive abortion access that will likely see more babies aborted who are in the same situation as he was in the womb. Wes Streeting has also said no to signing a pledge to stop sex-selective abortion, lower the time limit and back policies designed to end pregnancy and maternity discrimination. This seems to be a case of cognitive dissonance, which often accompanies ideological thinking.”
