Pro-life people and groups across the United Kingdom are celebrating following the announcement that a pro-life Catholic has been appointed as Health Secretary.

Unveiling her cabinet, the UK’s new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, appointed the role of Health Secretary and Deputy PM to Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey.

Dr Coffey, who is a qualified chemist and practising Catholic, maintains a pro-life voting record and has stated that she would prefer if women “did not have abortions.”

Earlier this year, Dr Coffey voted against making the deadly DIY abortion scheme permanent in England and Wales. During 2020, Dr Coffey voted against the Westminster Government imposing extreme abortion legislation onto Northern Ireland, stating that this was an overreach of power and in conflict with Northern Ireland’s devolution agreement.

During 2017, Dr Coffey voted against abortion decriminalisation, which posed the threat of permitting abortion for any reason on demand. Dr Coffey defended the former Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, after he faced backlash for proposing that the UK’s extreme 24-week abortion time limit should be reduced to 12 weeks.

In 2015, the Health Secretary described voting to protect vulnerable people against assisted suicide legislation as one of her “proudest days.”

SPUC comment

An SPUC spokesperson said: “The appointment of Therese Coffey as Health Secretary is a great victory for pro-lifers in the UK. This is a time to celebrate.

“The new Health Secretary’s pro-life voting record and convictions assure us that she will be a great ally to the pro-life movement in the fight for unborn rights. Real healthcare does not kill humans, and our new Health Secretary recognises exactly that.

“SPUC congratulates Dr Coffey in her new role and urges the new Prime Minister and her wider cabinet to listen to the growing number of voices in the UK demanding an end to abortion.

“Now is the time to secure our pro-life future.”