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
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