Peers are set to challenge extreme abortion proposals in the Crime and Policing Bill.
Baroness Monckton has tabled an amendment to remove Clause 191 from the Bill, which proposes to decriminalise women performing their own abortions for any reason and at any point, including late in pregnancy.
A separate amendment tabled by Baroness Stroud seeks to reinstate the requirement of a face-to-face appointment with a medical professional before abortion pills are prescribed for at-home use. The requirement was removed during the Covid pandemic. Supporters of the amendment argue that restoring in-person consultations would reduce the risk of abuses and coercion, and allow medical professionals to make accurate assessments of a woman's gestational age.
It follows a number of high profile cases in which pills procured through the 'pills by post' service were unlawfully used. In one incident, a mother was jailed after she used them to abort her baby between 32 and 34 weeks. In another case, a man was jailed after secretly giving abortion pills to his girlfriend at his home, causing her to lose the baby.
Peers supporting the tabled amendments argue that the proposals in the Bill, if passed, will lead to an increase in late-term at-home abortions, and put more women at serious risk of medical complications. They are also concerned that the changes will lead to more sex-selective abortions. Abortion provider BPAS was recently accused of legitimising sex-selective abortions for failing to state unequivocally in its guidance that the practice is illegal.
Ahead of tabling her amendment, Baroness Monckton said the proposals represent "an extreme social change for which there is no public pressure or demand, and could have tragic consequences for women, as well as leading to increased numbers of abortions of viable babies”.
“This radical clause was added to the Bill after less than an hour of debate by MPs, and without the necessary scrutiny required for an issue of such seriousness. Whatever one’s views on abortion, this is not how responsible laws are made."
Baroness Stroud said her amendment would protect women.
“Supporters of decriminalising abortion up to birth cite a small number of prosecutions of women for illegal late-term abortions in recent years. The increase in such cases is a direct result of the ‘pills by post’ scheme, whereby women can receive abortion pills without an in-person consultation to verify their gestational age is within the legal limit," she said.
“The solution to such cases is not to make matters worse by removing the legal deterrent against women performing their own at-home abortions up to birth, which would likely endanger women further, but to reinstate in-person consultations.
"I, and many others, warned of the dangers of the ‘pills by post’ scheme when it was introduced. Sadly, those warnings have come true."
Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said that if the proposals become law, they will be "the most significant change to abortion legislation since the Abortion Act was introduced in 1967”.
“The law change would likely lead to the lives of many more women being endangered because of the risks involved with self-administered late-term abortions and also tragically lead to an increased number of viable babies’ lives being ended well beyond the 24-week abortion time limit and beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb," she said.
She added, “The abortion lobby is pushing to decriminalise abortion to cover up the disastrous effects of its irresponsible pills by post scheme, which endangers women by removing the requirement for in-person consultations before abortion pills may be prescribed."
