by Andrew Halloway
Pro-life campaigners were relieved when two extreme abortion measures failed to be added to the government’s Domestic Abuse Bill.
Two new clauses were to be introduced under cover of protecting domestic abuse victims. New Clause 29 would have allowed abortion for any reason whatsoever, including sex selection, up to 28 weeks, but the Speaker of the House, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, did not select it for debate on 6 July.
Then Diana Johnson MP withdrew New Clause 28, which would have allowed abortion in any location if a woman was in an abusive relationship – with no gestation time limit. The abortion lobby realised the clause was likely to be defeated after a large number of MPs spoke against the proposals.
The proposed amendments were drastically out of step with public opinion. According to polling by Savanta ComRes, only one per cent of UK women want the abortion time limit extended; 70 per cent would like it to be reduced and 91 per cent think sex-selective abortion should be banned.
Right to Life UK’s Catherine Robinson said: “This is a major victory… These amendments would have left the unborn child with considerably worse protections and removed many of the current safeguards which protect women facing unplanned pregnancies.”