Dear
SPUC supporter,
The Second Reading debate on the Crime and Policing Bill in the House of Lords has just come to an end, and I wanted to update you.
Despite this Bill having over 200 clauses, peers spent a considerable amount of time debating just one, that wasn’t even part of the original Bill – Clause 191, the amendment to allow self-induced abortions up to birth.
As is usual in the Lords, there was no vote at this stage, but it was encouraging that the majority of peers who mentioned abortion opposed the amendment. 11 peers rose to oppose it, versus four who spoke in support.
There were some very strong speeches on our side (you can check out the highlights on SPUC’s X account, where I was live covering the debate).
Lord Jackson of Peterborough slammed the measure, saying “Clause 191 is an embarrassment to supporters of abortion and a stain on our reputation as a country that claims to care for pregnant women and their unborn children.”
Many mentioned how dangerous decriminalisation is in the context of pills by post. Lord Frost said that “the permanent extension of the pills by post scheme, with no requirement for an in-person consultation, has made it possible to try to end a pregnancy at any point beyond 24 weeks. At the moment, that is still a criminal offence, and this clause would mean that it no longer was, provided that only the mother was involved. It is foreseeable that, in practice, this will make abortions up to birth more common, endanger more women because of the medical risks of termination after 24 weeks, and create pressure for a similar decriminalisation for medical practitioners themselves.” In an excellent speech, Baroness Spielman made the point that despite the many red flags it has raised, there has been so systematic review of telemedicine – something that SPUC is calling for.
It was good to hear several peers, including Lord Jackson and Lord Elliot of Mickle Fell quoting SPUC’s polling, which found that more than six in 10 respondents agreed that abortion should continue to remain illegal after 24 weeks.
Perhaps my favourite speech of the day was from Baroness Lawlor, who made a point you very rarely hear - that exempting women from the law is incompatible with the very idea of law. I thought she was spot on when she said: "There can be no greater denigration of pregnant women than to deny them the most basic right of all, to be judged morally - and when they have committed a crime - to be judged criminally...This treats them as less than fully human adults."
Despite the strength of feeling against the clause, the Government Minister summing up the debate only made a very cursory reference to it, saying that the Government is neutral and will facilitate whatever the House decides. However, he did confirm that there will be a free vote on the issue.
If you would like to hear more about how the debate went, make sure you sign up to our webinar next week!
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Thank you to everyone who has been writing to Lords on this - as we can see from the debate today, it really makes a difference! If you haven't yet, click the button to go to our webpage, which gives you all the information to write, including access to our online tool.
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Alithea Williams
Public Policy Manager
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