I was saddened to hear that the House of Lords had voted to retain an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which in effect decriminalises abortion up to birth in the case of the mother. It’s bad law not just because it is unethical but also because it is unhealthy to have backbenchers loading their hobby horse amendments onto legislation intended for different purposes. So, this week has been mixed for those of us who care about a vulture of life. We have at least the small comfort of seeing an assisted dying bill voted down in Scotland.
Some people have been promoting a “heartbeat bill” petition as a way to resist the move to abortion on demand and even bring some reversals. I am not convinced of this proposal for the reasons set out here.
Of course, it is reasonable for people to ask then, “what is your alternative?” Recognising that we both want to fight for the principle of life from conception and the reality that any changes to the status quo will need to be incremental, I recommend the following as an alternative. I would recommend a short, private members’ bill be introduced which has two clauses
The first section would explicitly recognise that life begins at conception and presume that this confers person good, human rights and dignity. The presumption in law should be towards preserving life. The second clause would acknowledge the exceptions found in the 1967 Act but then set up a review panel required to meet at set intervals of at least once per parliament (I’d prefer it to be annually). The panel would assess all of the latest information with a view to reducing the time limit on abortion.
If anyone is interested in taking this cause on, I’d love to hear from you.
Faithroots 