On Thursday 25 January, the Criminal Justice Bill Committee debated and then withdrew the proposed amendments NC1 and NC2, tabled by Dame Diana Johnson MP and Stella Creasy MP, respectively. Noting that abortion is a very sensitive and incredibly important issue, committee members agreed not to vote on the amendments but rather to leave the matter to be debated ‘properly’ by all MPs in the House of Commons. A committee member noted that it is likely a new amendment will be tabled for debate during the Report Stage of the CJB in February.[i]
Compassion, not punishment
It is clear from this committee debate that there is significant support among MPs for changes to the abortion law; many are saying that we need to stop the trauma being caused to women when they are investigated and prosecuted for committing an illegal abortion. Jess Phillips MP, who spoke in favour of amendment NC1, was thanked by Vicky Ford MP for her ‘moving speech’, which she likened to the ‘harrowing evidence’ that they had both listened to when considering changes to the abortion law in Northern Ireland.
When this matter comes back to the House in February, there is little doubt that the thrust of the debate will centre around the stories of vulnerable women, in desperate situations, who have their lives torn apart, not just from a late-term abortion, but more so from the heavy-handed manner in which they are investigated by the police and courts. It is worth noting that Phillips recounted a couple of such cases that were included by BPAS, MSI Reproductive Choices and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in their co-signed written evidence to the Committee and referred to other cases recently reported by the mainstream press.
Alex Cunningham MP made it clear that the Labour Party supports abortion decriminalisation and wants to see an end to criminal sanctions for women who manage their own abortions. He said that there is a clear consensus across parliament for changing the law and for showing these women compassion rather than punishment.
Alternative approach
Laura Farris MP spoke on behalf of the Government, agreeing that the matter should be determined by debate in the House of Commons. She suggested that MPs could consider some alternative ways in which the primary legislation might be changed. She indicated that Creasy had gone too far in asking for Section 60 to be removed, as this might have the unintended consequence of permitting infanticide and concealment of the dead baby’s body.
Both Farris and Cunningham talked about the importance of appropriate medical regulation of abortion and drew a distinction between legislation and regulation; Farris made the point that ‘telemedical’ is a confusing word and it would be better to ‘refer to taking abortion pills at home when eligible’.
Early in the debate, Phillips noted an uptick in the number of investigations, saying that six women had appeared in court over the last 18 months, compared to just three in the 50 years following the 1967 Abortion Act. Farris in response, made the point that the scale of this issue in the courts amounted to just one criminal conviction in the last six years.
That said, even in the context these very small numbers, I think it is problematic, and perhaps even wrong, to dismiss the harm caused to women by these investigations and prosecutions. We need to find a way to resolve this issue without unnecessarily casting aside abortion legislation.
MPs might want to consider legislating for a change in the investigation, prosecution, and sentencing guidelines related to these breaches of the abortion law, rather than decriminalisation; especially given that it is the trauma of the investigations that seems to be a core presenting issue.
Medical regulation and guidelines
Many of the harrowing cases cited by those advocating decriminalisation, as Phillips did so here, are a direct result of the pills-by-post process. Women wanting to have an abortion beyond the legal limit, can obtain abortion pills by simply phoning an abortion provider and saying that they are less than 10-weeks pregnant. These later-gestation cases could be prevented by rescinding the pills-by-post approval and reinstating the requirement for an in-person medical consultation before prescribing these pills, as I discussed in this earlier post.
When prescribing pills-by-post and certifying that an abortion meets the legal criteria, a doctor has to state that they have formed an opinion in good faith that the woman’s gestational age is less than 10-weeks. Tighter, appropriate, enforcement of this regulation would go a long way to achieving the desired reduction in the number of subsequent investigations or prosecutions.
We do not need new medical regulations to fix this issue (investigations and prosecutions), but we do need much better enforcement of current regulations and adherence to existing best-practice medical guidelines. I noted in my Written Evidence, submitted to the CJB Committee, how recently updated guidelines from the World Health Organisation and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists consider self-management of a medical abortion at 12-weeks or greater gestational age to be unsafe and to be avoided. I suggested that abortion decriminalisation would have the unintended consequence of an increase in the number of women using abortion pills at home after the legal limit of 10-weeks, causing more trauma to women than may have been caused by past prosecutions.
Reminding doctors of their professional obligations to follow these regulations and guidelines could, if enforced correctly, bring about the desired reduction in the number of women being harmed by self-management of an abortion later in their pregnancy.
Lowlight
Whilst speaking in support of decriminalisation, Jess Phillips MP loses all credibility when she says this about the issue of abortion…
…we allow this issue to retain some sort of grandiosity, as if it is any more than having a prostate exam, which even the King is doing and talking about
First published on 30 January 2024, at Christian Concern.
[i] Criminal Justice Bill Deb, 25 January 2024, c446:
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/pbc/2023-24/Criminal_Justice_Bill/14-0_2024-01-25a.446.2
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