An MP has argued that abortion has no more moral importance than a prostate exam. The comments were made during a debate on removing abortion from the criminal law.
The comments were made by Jess Philips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, at the Committee stage of the Government’s Criminal Justice Bill.
In November last year, Dame Diana Johnson MP and Stella Creasy MP tabled extreme amendments to the Bill, both of which would decriminalise abortion. On 25 January, they were debated by a small number of MPs in Committee.
The amendments were moved by Ms Phillips, a member of the Committee. In response to a view expressed by several other MPs that abortion law should not be changed by such a small number of MPs, she said:
“If this was the women’s health Bill, we would be more than happy to amend all sorts of things in this room, but we allow this issue to retain some sort of grandiosity, as if it is any more than having a prostate exam, which even the King is doing and talking about.”
However, she did agree to withdraw the amendments. It is widely expected that they will return in some form at the Report stage of the Bill.
Laura Farris, speaking for the Government, said that it maintained a neutral stance on the issue, but: “If the will of the House is that the criminal law on abortion should change, whether by exempting pregnant women from the offences or otherwise, the Government would not stand in the way of such change”.
However, she pointed out some problems with the details of the amendments, especially with Stella Creasy’s proposal to remove Section 60 of the Offences Against the Person Act. “Section 60 makes it an offence for a person to conceal the birth of a child by disposing of the child’s body after its birth,” she explained.
“There is a high-profile case in the papers today concerning exactly that issue. It is not generally considered to be an abortion offence and it is not limited to the abortion context. Repealing the offence could have unintended consequences.”
Alex Cunningham, speaking for the Opposition, said: “Labour believes that abortion is an essential part of healthcare that is highly regulated. Let me make it perfectly clear today that we do not believe that women should be jailed for getting an abortion when they are doubtless at their most vulnerable.
“For that reason, a Labour Government will provide parliamentary time for free votes on modernising abortion law to ensure that Members of Parliament can deal with this issue once and for all.”
Pro-abortion politicians “lose all credibility”
Alithea Williams, SPUC’s Public Policy Manager, said: “Jess Phillips and her pro-abortion allies lose all credibility when they compare a serious moral issue like abortion to a prostate exam. Most people were horrified that the pills by post policy allowed a woman to obtain abortion pills way past the abortion limit, ending the life of a 36-week-old unborn baby. But decriminalising abortion will pave the way for more such cases. It is barbaric to both women and babies.
“We must now be ready to fight this again at Report stage. To that end, we encourage supporters to sign up for our webinar on how to lobby your MP on this issue.”