We Care About Women: Oppose Decriminalising Abortion

SPUC’s campaign against decriminalising abortion

Decriminalising abortion means:

Taking abortion outside the law and effectively removing all legal protection for unborn children and their mothers.
Making abortion available at any time in pregnancy and for any reason.
Leaving women vulnerable to the unscrupulous abortion industry in our country.
Opening up dangerous legal home abortions.

Key arguments against decriminalisation:

Decriminalisation is completely unnecessary.
Proposals for decriminalisation are anti-democratic.
Abortion is not like ‘any other medical treatment’.
Abortion is bad healthcare for women.

The threat of decriminalisation:

In March 2017 the House of Commons voted by 172 votes to 142 to permit Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull North, to introduce a bill under the Ten Minute Rule Bill procedure, calling for the decriminalisation of abortion.

Although this bill made no more progress in that Parliament, Diana Johnson has pledged to re-introduce another measure to decriminalise abortion.

Major medical bodies backing decriminalisation:

British Medical Association
Royal College of Midwives
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Action you can take to oppose decriminalising abortion

Download our briefing (click for PDF) or use the Contact Us form below to request a printed copy
Write to your MP asking him/her to oppose all moves in parliament to decriminalise abortion.
Order our door-to-door leaflet to alert people in your neighbourhood about the dangers of decriminalising of abortion (order form below)
Organise a local meeting as part of SPUC’s annual Campaign Tour: We Care About Women