Two respected members of the House of Lords are set to table amendments to overturn the ‘abortion up to birth’ clause in the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill and to reinstate in-person medical consultations before at-home abortions.
Baroness Monckton MBE believes that allowing women to have abortions at any stage of pregnancy without sanction will lead to more women conducting dangerous late-term abortions by themselves. This is because, while women will not face criminal charges, the same does not apply to doctors who assist in an abortion post-24, weeks unless the mother’s life is at risk or the baby is deemed to have a disability.
And while an amendment to reinstate in-person appointments was rejected by the House of Commons, Baroness Stroud is seeking to outlaw the ‘pills-by-post’ scheme that has been in place since the coronavirus pandemic.
The moves follow a debate in the House of Lords on the Crime and Policing Bill, which contains Antonia Antoniazzi’s Clause 191. This clause, which allows women to abort their babies up to birth, was passed by MPs in June, with 379 in favour and 137 against. Lady Monckton’s amendment would remove it.
The baroness said: “This is 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”.
She added: “A large number of peers have indicated that they will support my amendment to remove Clause 191″.
Lady Monckton said she was supporting Baroness Stroud’s amendment on in-person appointments, which she said would ensure “gestation, health risks and any coercion risks can be properly assessed”.
Lady Stroud said: “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 added: “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”.
Lady Stroud continued: “I, and many others, warned of the dangers of the ‘pills by post’ scheme when it was introduced. Sadly, those warnings have come true.”