The House of Commons has voted for abortion up to and during birth.
A hijacking amendment at Report Stage of the Crime and Policing Bill to decriminalise abortion was passed by 379 votes to 137, a huge majority of 242.
The Bill was introduced principally to combat violence, especially against women, and to halt the scourge of knife crime but it has been amended to allow abortions for any reason whatsoever and at any point in pregnancy.
Afterwards, Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool said that the English and Welsh bishops were “deeply alarmed” by the development.
He said: “Today, Parliament passed an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that effectively decriminalises abortion in England and Wales.
“We are deeply alarmed by this decision. Our alarm arises from our compassion for both mothers and unborn babies.
“New Clause 1 lifts any criminal liability for women performing their abortions for any reason, at any time, including up to and during birth.
“This decision significantly reduces the protection of unborn lives and will result in grave harm for pregnant women.
“Women will be even more vulnerable to manipulation, coerced and forced abortions.
“This legal change will also discourage medical consultation and make the use of abortion pills for dangerous late-term, at-home abortions more likely.
“Abortion is often chosen because of the personal challenges that a woman faces, as well as the lack of proper suitable guidance and support. The enacting of New Clause 1 will result in women being more alone, vulnerable, and isolated.
“However, we cannot lose hope. The Church keeps working tirelessly to protect the dignity of every life.
We will not abandon pregnant women and their unborn children in their most vulnerable moment. I thank all those within and outside the Church who share this commitment and continue to serve parents in need and their babies.”
Archbishop Sherrington added: “Let us continue to pray and commend the lives of these women, children, their families, and all who support them to the maternal intercession of Our Lady, Mother of God.”
Abortion is illegal under the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861 but permitted if criteria set out by the 1967 Abortion Act are met, such as an upper time limit of 24 weeks for nearly all abortions.
Since the lockdown of 2020 it has been possible to obtain pills to induce an abortion at home in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
At present the abortion rate is the highest on record with 253,000 carried out in England and Wales last year and 19,000 in Scotland.
Abuse of the pills to procure abortions very late in pregnancy have, however, resulted in a small number of prosecutions.
Tonia Antoniazzi, the Labour MP for Gower, introduced the amendment to decriminalise abortion so women who undertook late-term pregnancies with such pills would no longer be sent to jail.
She said: “Let’s ensure that not a single desperate woman ever again is subject to traumatic criminal investigation at the worst moment in their lives.”
Dr Caroline Johnson, the Conservative MP for Sleaford, failed to pass an amendment that would have reinstated in-person consultations and halted the “pills by post” scheme that has been criminally abused.
Crossbench peer Lord Alton of Liverpool, a Catholic, said: “This hasty change will have profound implications for the way that longstanding law in this country will operate.
“We know that there are potential real risks for the safety of women in particular who will be encouraged towards DIY abortions.
“I expect that colleagues in the House of Lords will wish to scrutinise its provisions very closely and to amend it as necessary to make it safe.”
Catherine Robinson of Right to Life said: “Pro-abortion MPs have hijacked a government Bill to rush through this radical and seismic change to our abortion laws after just two hours’ debate.
“We will be fighting this amendment at every stage in the Lords.
“Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, and at any point up to and during birth, likely leading to a significant increase in the number of women performing dangerous late-term abortions at home.”
“This law change would likely lead to the lives of many more women being endangered because of the risks involved with self-administered late-term abortions and also tragically lead to an increased number of viable babies’ lives being ended well beyond the 24-week abortion time limit and beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb.”
“This change to the law is not backed by the general public nor by women in particular. Polling shows that 89 per cent of the general population and 91 per cent of women agree that gender-selective abortion should be explicitly banned by the law, and only one per cent of women support introducing abortion up to birth.”
“The abortion lobby is pushing to decriminalise abortion to cover up the disastrous effects of its irresponsible pills by post scheme, which endangers women by removing the requirement for in-person consultations to reliably verify a woman’s gestational age and assess any health risks or the risk of coercion before abortion pills may be prescribed.”
She added: “The solution is clear. We urgently need to reinstate in-person appointments.
"This simple safeguard would prevent women’s lives from being put at risk from self-administered late-term abortions, a danger that would be exacerbated if abortion were ‘decriminalised’ right up to birth.”
<em>(Photo by Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images)</em>
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