SPUC has defended pro-woman, pro-life Maria Caulfield MP, the newly appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, following the “hysterical reaction of pro-abortion ideologues” to her new role.

The abortion provider British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has lashed out at the appointment of Maria Caulfield MP to be minister for women.

“We are absolutely appalled that the prime minister has decided to appoint as minister for women an MP who has consistently voted to restrict women’s rights”, said BPAS, whose abortion facilities have regularly been reported by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for safety failings.

Last year, three BPAS abortions clinics were into special measures after the CQC found that women were being exposed to harm, as reported by SPUC at the time.

Responding to Caulfield’s appointment, Labour’s shadow women and equalities secretary, Anneliese Dodds, claimed that “it is deeply troubling that Rishi Sunak has appointed a minister for women who supports limiting women’s rights to abortion.

“The government must be clear and unequivocal that a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion is not under threat.”

Caulfield’s pro-woman record   

Ms Caulfield, Conservative MP for Lewes since 2015, has consistently voted against pro-abortion legislation, including an attempt in 2017 to legislate on-demand abortion up-to-birth, and also supports lowering the abortion time limit.

More recently, Caulfield voted against the commissioning of abortion services in Ireland, as well as the imposition of censorious buffer zones around abortion facilities where even silent prayer is outlawed. Ms Caulfield stated that she did not believe buffer zones were “proportionate to the issue at hand”, and questioned the “definition of harassment” present in the measure.

Ms Caulfield also voted against making DIY home abortion permanent. Most MPs ultimately voted in favour of the measure, despite a government consultation in which 70% of respondents said that DIY home abortion should end immediately – 69% of respondents cited safety concerns for women.

Last year, a “devastating” study revealed that over 10,000 women who took DIY abortion pills required hospital treatment in 2020, as reported by SPUC.

“Immeasurably more pro-woman” than BPAS

SPUC’s Michael Robinson, Executive Director (Public Affairs and Legal Services), said: “The hysterical reaction of pro-abortion ideologues presents no rational argument or moral case but shamelessly seeks to bully a woman who has stood up for women by voting against harmful abortion legislation that only furthers their pain and heartbreak.

“If BPAS really wants to support and protect women, it should first clear up its shocking safety record, as exposed by the CQC – but more importantly, stop abortion altogether. But safety is not their true concern. Abortion is. Any policy, however harmful the consequences for women, which advances the pro-abortion cause is seized on shamelessly, as we have seen this year.

“There is nothing ‘safe’ about abortion. It is a violent act that kills an unborn child – and often seriously harms the mother, too, physically and psychologically, and also exposes them to abortion coercion, as the recent vote to make DIY home abortion permanent undoubtedly did.

“Ms Caulfield has honourably protected women by voting against such reckless measures. Not only does she have a right to stand up for women, but her record is also immeasurably more pro-woman than the sordid and hypocritical practices of BPAS and its supporters.

“Pro-lifers must not bow down to the hysteria created by the abortion industry and its political apologists. Women, their unborn children and their families, are counting on people of good sense courage to speak out on their behalf and protect them, which Ms Caulfield MP has done.”