UK Lawmakers Pass Extreme Abortion Bill, Opening Door to Infanticide
Members of Parliament decriminalize abortion up to birth
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Britain’s lawmakers have enacted the most radical legislation on abortion in the nation’s history, with a thumping majority voting to permit abortion up to birth, effectively paving the way for infanticide.
Parliamentarians introduced the pro-abortion legislation on June 17 by voting to amend two laws from 1861 and 1929, respectively, which originally criminalized abortion and stipulated that those who carried it out could be “kept in penal servitude for life.”
Hijacking a discussion on the Crime and Policing Bill, which is primarily about preventing anti-social behavior, members of the House of Commons voted 379-137 to stop women from being prosecuted under the nineteenth-century criminal laws related to abortion.
“In two hours of debate on a Tuesday afternoon, we are being asked to rewrite a profound boundary in British law that protects the unborn child,” said Conservative MP Julia Lopez during the debate. “That is not responsible lawmaking; it is a procedural ambush.”
Catholic Lawmaker Ends “Victorian” Pro-Life Laws
“Since 2020, more than 100 women have been criminally investigated, six have faced court, and one has been sent to prison” for aborting a baby after the legally permitted period of 24 weeks, argued Tonia Antoniazzi, a Labor Member of Parliament. “Each one of these cases is a travesty enabled by our outdated abortion law. Originally passed by an all-male Parliament elected by men alone, this Victorian law is increasingly used against vulnerable women and girls.
“It would still be illegal for medical professionals to provide abortions after 24 weeks, but women would no longer face prosecution.”
Antoniazzi urged the body to adopt an even “more comprehensive reform of abortion law” through a “future bill.”
Minority Challenge Pro-Abortion Amendments
A few parliamentarians challenged the amendments during the debate. Sarah Pochin, a member of the new Reform party, asked: “Due to medical advancements, we can save the life of a fetus at 21 weeks, yet we can legally terminate a fetus at 24 weeks?”
Jim Shannon, a member of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), agreed. “With all the protections she is putting forward to safeguard women, the one thing that does not seem to be part of this process is the unborn baby,” he noted, “and that concerns me greatly.”
Liberal Democrat Angus MacDonald asked. “If a woman goes all the way through to full term and then decides it is an inconvenience, does the Hon. Lady still think that she should be covered by this legal protection?”
Jim Allister, a committed Protestant, warned that his Traditional Unionist Voice party had seen “a huge, unregulated increase in the destruction of human life through the destruction of the unborn in Northern Ireland” after similar laws were passed.
“Disappointed for our nation to see parliament vote to legalize abortion up to birth. Glad to be counted among those opposing such perversity,” he tweeted after the vote.
Lawmakers Warn of Infanticide
Carla Lockhart, an evangelical Christian who believes that God has placed her in politics to be a “voice for the voiceless,” called upon her colleagues to “protect both women and unborn babies who are old enough to survive outside the womb.”
“Only three women have ever been on trial over the past 160 years for illegal abortions,”she argued. “I believe that both lives matter in every pregnancy — both the mum’s life and the child’s life.”
Lawmakers opposing the amendments also cautioned that the legislation is opening the door to infanticide.
“If this becomes law, fully developed babies up to term could be aborted by a woman with no consequences,” warned Conservative MP Rebecca Paul, who clarified that she “fully supports women’s reproductive rights.”
“Let me be clear: this means that it will no longer be illegal for a woman to abort a full-term, healthy baby,” noted Labor politician David Smith. “That would be a profound change in the settled position on abortion in this country for the past 58 years — an extreme move that polling has shown that the vast majority of the country does not want.”
Church Leaders Mostly Silent as Abortion Ravages Britain
“My hope and prayer is that this will serve as a wake-up call not only to the nation but to the church,” Brephos Director Dave Brennan told The Stream. Brephos is part of the Center for Bioethical Reform UK.
“The nation reflects the church within her,” he continued. “Just as in 1967, when the Abortion Act was passed after the colossal failure of the Church of England, so too in recent days the church has failed to be a clear voice for life. Only two weeks ago, theologian N.T. Wright completely failed to give a clear answer to the question of abortion on his podcast. This is an example of the state of the Evangelical Church in our nation. Things may have to get worse before they can get better.”
Brennan lamented that “the travesty of the killing of a quarter of a million babies per year” has “not been enough to wake the Church up from her slumber.”
“I hope that this finally will be enough, that the Church will be brought to repentance and in turn sound that clear trumpet call that will move people to get ready for battle and ultimately result in repentance in the nation on this, our greatest shame and scandal of today,” he said.
Not a single bishop from the Church of England, the established church of the land, which has 26 bishops in the House of Lords, spoke out against the bill. An anonymous spokesperson from Church House, the Anglican headquarters, called it “a highly complex and emotive issue,” agreeing that it should remain a criminal offense for abortion providers.
“Whilst women ought not to be criminalized, it is worrying that this very significant change to the law may lead to more late-term abortions, including sex-selective abortions,” the spokesperson added.
John Sherrington, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool, said, “This decision significantly reduces the protection of unborn lives and will result in grave harm for pregnant women. Women will be even more vulnerable to manipulation, coerced, and forced abortions. This legal change will also discourage medical consultation and make the use of abortion pills for dangerous late-term, at-home abortions more likely.”
The Fellowship of Evangelical Churches, the Association of Grace Baptist Churches, and the Baptist Union of Great Britain are among prominent evangelical church groups that remained silent on the bill.
The legislation now has to be approved by the unelected upper house of parliament, the House of Lords, before it receives the Royal Assent and becomes law.
Dr. Jules Gomes (BA, BD, MTh, PhD) has a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Vatican-accredited journalist based in Rome, he is the author of five books and several academic articles. Gomes lectured at Catholic and Protestant seminaries and universities and was canon theologian and artistic director at Liverpool Cathedral.