The date when extreme abortion amendments could be voted on is now known, after the Government announced the Report Stage of the Criminal Justice Bill. In today’s Business Statement, Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House, announced that Day 1 of the Report Stage will take place on the 15th May.

Amendments that would decriminalise abortion, allowing DIY home abortion up to birth, have been tabled to this Bill by Labour MPs Stella Creasy and Diana Johnson. SPUC is urging supporters to contact their MPs, and will be sending out more campaign actions in the coming weeks.

“Thank you to everyone who has been campaigning with us to defeat these wicked amendments”, said Alithea Williams, SPUC’s Public Policy Manager. “It’s been a long campaign, with the debate of this Bill being pushed back again and again. And we still won’t know until just before the debate if the Speaker has chosen the abortion amendments to be voted on.”

“But we know that our campaigning is working”, she continued. “More and more MPs have been saying that they find these proposals too extreme, even those who consider themselves pro-choice. Just last week, the Home Secretary said that this Bill is not the place for abortion amendments like this, showing how worried the Government is about MPs voting down the whole Bill to keep them out.

“We need to keep putting pressure on MPs and Government. If either of these amendments is voted through, it will be the biggest change to UK abortion law since 1967. There would be no law against women self-inducing abortion at home, at any stage of pregnancy – an appalling scenario that will risk women’s lives and strip any remaining rights from unborn babies. We must fight it with everything we have.”

You can contact your MP about these amendments here. Sign up to our email list here to get further updates on how to campaign with us.