Abortion decriminalisation row as peers move to ban sex-selective terminations
The row broke out over her colleagues’ attempt to introduce what was described as a “devastating change” to legislation decriminalizing late-term abortion.
A cross-party group has introduced an amendment to ban sex-selective abortion and ensure it remains illegal for the first time in UK history. The issue is expected to be raised this week when colleagues continue the committee stage of the Crime and Policing Bill.
Supporters of the original amendment to the bill, introduced by Gower Labor MP Tonia Antoniazzi, believe the proposal to change it in the House of Lords is a decriminalization initiative that is overwhelmingly supported by MPs in the House of Commons.
Abortions are currently allowed in England and Wales up to 24 weeks, but women who have abortions later can be prosecuted. Ms Antoniazzi’s amendment would block legal action, but critics argue it is a backdoor way to allow abortions until full term.
The decriminalization amendment, which was passed by 242 votes in the House of Commons, is expected to come before parliament within the next few weeks, with some amendments already being tabled.
But if a ban on sex-selective abortion is passed, it could defeat the proposal by effectively overriding decriminalization when questions arise about the justification for any abortion.
Mrs Antoniazzi told Independent: “The idea that this is even remotely in the interest of vulnerable women is frankly absurd.
“For women, claims about sex-selective abortion often focus on how women from certain cultural backgrounds may face control and pressure from family members to terminate a pregnancy because of gender.
“To be clear, there is absolutely no scenario where a woman in an abusive relationship would be criminalized for being forced to terminate her pregnancy. How exactly does this protect them? It doesn’t.”
Gender-selective abortion is the termination of an unborn baby based on its gender, and campaigners argue it almost exclusively involves the abortion of girls.
The problem broke out in Scotland last week; Proposals to change abortion law in Scotland would allow sex-selective abortions.
Conservative Baroness Eaton will launch a bid to stop the practice in England by introducing an amendment to rewrite the abortion clause in the Crime and Policing Act (191) to prevent it from legalizing sex-selective abortion.
Critics of clause 191, which Ms Antoniazzi introduced to the House of Commons after 46 minutes of debate, argue there was no prior public consultation, no Committee Stage review and no evidence hearings.
KC Stephen Rose has given a legal opinion to supporters of Baroness Eaton’s proposal that Ms Antoniazzi’s amendment would see sex-selective abortion “be legal” for up to nine months.
Devi Shah, spokesperson for the Stop Gender Killing campaign, said: “It is a heartbreaking reality that many women here in the UK face pressure from their partners or family members to end their marriage simply because they are expecting a girl.
“If sex-selective abortion is made legal, it will become much more difficult for women to reject pressure from relatives or partners to have an abortion because of the sex of the baby.”
Campaigners argue that data from India and China supports their claim that abortion is used because people do not want daughters.
A 2018 report by the Indian government estimated that 63 million women had disappeared from the country’s population due to layoffs. In China, there was a ratio of 114 boys to 100 girls, while the normal ratio was 105 to 100.
