A dangerous new abortion amendment will be debated in Parliament next week, seeking to remove safeguards provided in the 1967 Abortion Act.
Diana Johnson, the pro-abortion Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull North, has tabled an amendment to the Health and Care Bill, which will make it legal for a woman to carry out her own abortion in any way, for any reason.
Ms. Johnson’s amendment (New Clause 50) seeks to amend sections of the Offences Against the Person Act so that the offences of procuring and administrating abortion drugs, or using instruments to procure an abortion, “does not apply to a woman in relation to the procurement of her own miscarriage”.
This would mean that it would be legal for a woman to carry out her own abortion in any way (including ordering pills online) and for any reason, and would encourage women to carry out their abortion, putting them at far greater risk.
SPUC is calling on its supporters to email their MP and ask them to speak and vote against this dangerous amendment that is a threat to the welfare of mothers and their unborn babies.
Other amendments to this bill
Pro-life MPs have also tabled three amendments to this bill:
- NC31 seeks to amend the upper gestation limit for abortion to 22 weeks.
- NC51 seeks to explicitly ban sex-selective abortion.
- NC52 seeks to lower the upper gestational limit for abortion in cases of disability to be in line with other abortions.
The Report stage of the Health and Care Bill will take place on Monday and Tuesday next week. We currently expect all these amendments to be debated on Tuesday afternoon.
SPUC’s Alithea Williams, Public Policy Manager, said: “NC 50 is a huge threat to unborn babies. It would also put women at risk by incentivising “do-it-yourself” abortions and removing safeguards in the 1967 Abortion Act, leaving them more vulnerable to hawkers of online abortion pills.
“Please work with us to defeat this amendment.”
Write now
Write to your MP to asking them to vote against Diana Johnson’s dangerous amendment. You can find your MP’s contact details here.