The much publicised new Bill to decriminalise abortion would mean abortion could be performed on any grounds at all up to 24 weeks. This warning was issued by Dr Peter Saunders, Chief Executive of the Christian Medical Fellowship.
Credit: JedDwight/Wikimedia
While Labour MP Diana Johnson won MPs’ support in her Bill to place the regulation of abortions in the hands of professional bodies in a first vote on 13 March, Tory MP Maria Caulfield warned that the Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Bill would result in a return to “back street abortions”.
Abortions are still illegal in England and Wales unless carried out under the conditions of the 1964 Abortion Act, so, for example, it is a criminal offence to buy abortion pills online to avoid seeing a GP. Decriminalisation would mean a loss of control of the abortion process, leading to unsafe practices.
Maria Caulfield said: “This bill would not protect women. Instead, it would embolden those men who pressurise women into abortions they do not wish to have.”
Dr Peter Saunders told Premier Radio that decriminalisation “would mean abortion could be performed on any grounds at all up until 24 weeks… there would be no restrictions” and it would put the UK on a par with Vietnam and China.