Late-term DIY abortions will rise if law changes, says Cates

DECRIMINALISING abortion will fuel late-term DIY procedures by pregnant women, a senior MP has warned.

In an article for The Telegraph website, Miriam Cates, co-chairman of the New Conservatives group of MPS, said an amendment proposing to decriminalise abortion would “remove any consequence” for a pregnant woman who decided to terminate their baby after the current 24-week limit.

Because the proposed amendment does not change the requirements under the 1967 Act barring doctors from conducting abortions after 24 weeks, Ms Cates said it would result in a rise in women trying to carry out DIY terminations on their post-term babies.

She said: “This would not just put women in danger, it would mark a serious failure in our duty to protect the rights of the unborn child.” She said if the amendment passed, she “and many other MPS” would vote against the Criminal Justice Bill in its entirety.

Her comments mark a potentially passionate debate over what could be the first major changes to abortion law in more than 30 years. Two amendments that have been tabled. One led by Diana Johnson, Labour chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, would mean women would no longer be prosecuted if they ended their pregnancies beyond the 24-week legal time limit. It has gathered cross-party support from more than 20 MPS.

Women can be jailed under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act if they have an abortion outside set circumstances. Last year a mother of three was sent to prison for an illegal abortion, and about 100 women have faced police investigations since 2019.

Under the amendment, the 1861 law would no longer apply to women ending pregnancies, but they would still have to abide by the requirements of the 1967 abortion act and the 24-week limit would remain intact. It is backed by the Royal Colleges of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, of GPS and of Midwives and the British Medical Association.

A second amendment would cut the time limit from 24 to 22 weeks, on the basis that the survival rate for extremely premature babies born at 23 weeks has doubled from two in 10 to four in 10.

Ms Cates said the rise in late terminations is partly down to the introduction of clinicians issuing abortion pills over the phone during the Covid pandemic.

Miriam Cates: telegraph.co.uk

‘This would mark a serious failure in our duty to protect the rights of the unborn child’