Pro-abortion MP Rupa Huq met with defeat yesterday when her move to criminalise pro-lifers was rejected by a Commons Committee. SPUC said that this is a significant victory for pro-life freedoms.
The Labour MP’s amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill called for jail sentences of up to two years for anyone who “advises or persuades, or attempts to advise or persuade”, “informs or attempts to inform” or “seeks to influence” a person regarding an abortion decision.
You made the difference
Hundreds of SPUC supporters submitted evidence calling on the public bill committee scrutinising the bill to reject this amendment.
“A huge thank you to all the SPUC supporters who sent a submission calling for nationwide buffer zones to be dismissed from the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill,” said SPUC’s Alithea Williams.
“It was an outrageous move on the part of Rupa Huq MP to seek legislation to criminalise pro-lifers who want to pray outside abortion clinics and offer last minute help to desperate women who do not want to abort their babies.
“The responses from SPUC supporters to our appeal for submissions was phenomenal. There's absolutely no doubt that the volume and quality of pro-life submissions sent to the Public Bill Committee made all the difference.”
Not proportionate
The amendment, which was pushed by Sarah Champion MP, was withdrawn after Victoria Atkins, a Home Office Minister, made it clear that the Government would not support it.
Echoing the findings of the Home Office Review in 2018, the Minister said that a “blanket ban” on “protest activities” would not be proportionate. She said that only 35 out of the 142 registered abortion clinics had registered any pro-life activity.
Ms Atkins also agreed with another MP that the measure could unintentionally prevent any kind of protest outside a hospital, and raised the point that the wording meant that people working in clinics would also be covered under the ban on providing advice on abortion.
Acknowledging the strength of pro-life feeling, she concluded: “We must acknowledge that there are colleagues and members of the public who want to defend their right to make their feelings and their views known in front of these service providers.”
What happens now?
“The defeat of this amendment is a great pro-life success”, said Ms Williams. “There is a chance that it could be re-tabled at report stage – but Ms Huq runs the risk that the Speaker will not select something that has already been debated at committee stage.”
She concluded: “There are still dangers for pro-life activity in other parts of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. However, for now, we can rejoice that your prompt action to defeat Rupa Huq’s measure to criminalise pro-lifers resulted in an important victory for women and the unborn, as well as free speech.”