Left to right – Wikimedia Commons: Official portrait of Tonia Antoniazzi, Official portrait of Stella Creasy MP
An amendment that would effectively decriminalise all abortion has been tabled in the UK parliament and is being supported by over 50 cross-party MPs.
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi tabled the amendment to the government’s crime and policing bill to remove women from “criminal law related to abortion”, meaning that “no offence is committed by a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy”.
If passed, abortion (including all abortions up to birth in any circumstances) would no longer be criminalised under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 or the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929.
Attempting to justify her proposed amendment, Antoniazzi claimed it was “necessary” because of the recent rise in prosecutions of women for alleged illegal abortions.
“We’ve seen a sharp rise in the number of women and girls facing criminal investigations following pregnancy loss and abortion”, Antoniazzi said. “It’s just wrong to put women in this situation, to put them into the criminal justice system, because this is not a criminal law issue, this is essentially a healthcare matter…
She added that the investigation of potentially illegal abortions was also “a waste of taxpayers’ money, it’s a waste of the judiciary’s time, and it’s not in the public interest. Therefore, the law has to change.”
SPUC is already mobilising its vast grassroots network to defeat the greatest threat to unborn babies in decades. Action is also being taken to lobby MPs at Westminster.
Prosecutions of illegal abortions have risen since the introduction of the pills-by-post scheme during lockdown, allowing women to obtain abortion drugs through a telemedicine consultation.
A recent investigation by a team led by Kevin Duffy exposed the ease with which abortion pills may be obtained from abortion providers by abusers and women under false pretences.
26 volunteers made a total of 85 phone calls that provided fake information and profiles. Pills were acquired successfully in every single case.
The most high-profile case of a prosecution in recent years was Carla Foster, who lied to an abortion provider about the true age of her unborn baby, who was later aborted using abortion pills at around 32 to 34 weeks of gestation.
During Foster’s sentencing, Justice Pepperall slammed attempts by the abortion lobby to influence his court by urging it to pass a non-custodial sentence.
Before Antoniazzi’s amendment was tabled last week, MP Stella Creasy wrote in the Guardian that she supported what would be the most radical pro-abortion legislation since the 1967 Abortion Act:
“This week we will lay an alternative amendment to the policing bill that doesn’t just repeal the antiquated criminal law and free women from the threat of prosecution. It also puts in place a plan for what happens next – an explicit human rights framework to ensure safe access and prevent the rolling back of abortion rights, whoever is in power.”
Click here to contact your MP, asking them to oppose Tonia Antoniazzi’s decriminalisation amendment.
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