MPs flooded with abortion decriminalisation emails

In just under two days, nearly 6,000 of our supporters have written to their MP, urging them to decriminalise abortion and support Stella Creasy’s NC20 amendment, which not only protects people who seek an abortion – it also protects partners and the healthcare professionals who provide abortion care.

Jo Maugham KC, Good Law Project’s executive director, has provided legal advice in support of Creasy’s amendment.

With the Crime and Policing Bill back in parliament next week, this a crucial window of opportunity to push back on sustained attacks from anti-abortion pressure groups, fuelled by dark money who are upping their activities in the UK. 

Nigel Farage has also recently called for restrictions on abortion services calling the current 24 week limit, “utterly ludicrous”. And this all comes on top of a recent sharp surge in police investigations into unlawful abortions and prosecutions enabled by an anachronistic legal framework introduced back in the Victorian era.

Another amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, NC1, has been proposed by Labour MP, Tonia Antoniazzi. However, unlike Creasy’s amendment it leaves some existing abortion offences in place so its proposed protections do not extend to the partners of those having abortions or the medical professionals involved. In addition, Antoniazzi’s amendment does not offer protections for buffer zones and telemedicine services, or limit direct ministerial interference over abortion rights.

According to Jo Maugham, Good Law Project’s director, legally, “both amendments make sense and are unproblematic: that’s my view as a KC and also that of Tony Vaughan KC MP,” he said. 

“The real difference between them is how broad you want the protection for abortion to be.”

He added, “If I were an MP I’d prefer the broader protection that Ms Creasy’s amendment offers but of course other political choices are available.”

For Stella Creasy, “MPs have the chance to equalise human rights between Northern Ireland and England and Wales by voting for NC20 next week”.

She added, “It’s the best way not just to stop the prosecution of women and medics, but also to protect safe and legal access from those who are seeking to use this issue as a political football”. 

The time to act is now. Tell your MP that the law must be reformed to protect anyone who seeks, supports, or provides abortion care from criminal prosecution.