MPs rightly rejected this amendment

JULY 5, 2021 was a day of celebration for the pro-life movement in Britain. On that day, in the House of Commons, an amendment (New Clause 55) was tabled to the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill. New Clause 55, if it had been accepted and passed, would have had the effect of decriminalising abortion right up to the moment of a baby’s birth. However, the Clause was greeted with vehement opposition from so many MPs that it wasn’t even put to a vote.

While most of the clauses of the Bill had to do with the tightening of legal sanctions in response to unruly or illegal behaviour – in regard to which Swansea West MP Geraint Davies spoke eloquently in defence of the right to demonstrate one’s views peacefully in public

– the dismissal of New Clause 55 stood out like a beacon, as an overwhelming assertion by MPs of the right to life of the unborn child, and the need to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the child’s mother.

MP after MP rose to draw attention to the fact that the amendment, if accepted and passed, would have swept away all legal safeguards and protections, not only for the baby, but also for the mother.

One MP declared: “The proposals are shocking – [if this proposal were implemented] a viable human being could have his or her life ended up to the point of birth, with no-one held accountable. New Clause 55 has no place in a compassionate, civilised and humane society.” Absolutely right.

Anyone who wishes to know more about the pro-life movement should contact the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (email: information@spuc.org.uk; tel: 020 7091 7091).

Tony Young Llangennech, Carmarthenshire