Great Britain: Abortion up to Birth?

The amendment mandates the government to implement the recommendations of the 2018 report to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which recommended that no criminal penalties be imposed on women and healthcare providers involved in abortions.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) warned that this measure would effectively legalize abortion up to birth. "No investigation may be conducted and no criminal proceedings may be instituted or pursued," states Amendment NC17. If the 24-week abortion limit were to be maintained, it would be unenforceable.

"This would effectively mean the complete decriminalization of abortion, up until birth, for any reason... including the sex of the baby," warned the SPUC. This is because "the amendment would eliminate... any prosecution, or even any investigation" in the event of a violation of the protections afforded to women and their unborn children.

Mrs. Creasy's Amendment NC17 would also make it very difficult to prosecute violent partners. For example, if Amendment NC17 had been passed before the trial of Stuart Worby, who was imprisoned for giving his partner abortion pills without her knowledge and killing her unborn baby, he might not have been prosecuted at all.

This amendment could also make it difficult to prosecute those involved in the concealment of a birth and a potential abortion, including infanticide during childbirth. The SPUC finally emphasized that CEDAW recommendations are not binding and do not constitute international law.

Another amendment tabled by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi seeks to remove women from the "criminal law relating to abortion," meaning that "no offense is committed by a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy."

If passed, abortion, regardless of the circumstances, would no longer be considered an offense under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 or the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929. This amendment is believed to be supported by more than 50 pro-abortion MPs from all parties.

The SPUC called the amendments "the greatest threat to unborn children and their mothers since the Abortion Act," referring to the 1967 law that legalized the practice up to the 24th week.

Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, said the proposed legislation "would amount to state-sanctioned murder" and warned that it "could lead to a situation similar to China's, with extreme abortion policies."

The rejection of the proposal is also reflected in public opinion: a YouGov poll cited by The Telegraph found that only 1% of British citizens would support abortion up to birth, compared to 70% of MPs who would support decriminalizing abortion beyond the current 24-week limit.

Mr. Gardiner attributed the legislative momentum to the Labour Party's parliamentary majority: "They have a sufficient majority to act dictatorially, regardless of public opinion. As long as they are not defeated at the ballot box, they can pass virtually any law."

The House of Commons is scheduled to vote on the amendments next week. Some voices are calling for more time for debate. Mr. Gardiner concluded his speech with a plea: "Every member of Parliament who is conscientious and believes in the sanctity of human life should oppose this barbaric monstrosity."

It should be noted that abortion law, regardless of the country or the method used, already embodies this "barbaric monstrosity," and the act of abortion, as long as it is covered by the law, is already "state-sanctioned murder." The atrocity of the new bill only further highlights this "barbaric monstrosity."

It also shows that, once the impenetrable door of respect for the sacredness of innocent life has been opened, nothing can prevent it from being purely and simply torn away and destroyed, plunging humanity further into a culture of death that devours its own children at the banquet of unconstrained pleasure.

Finally, it makes women—as women—the equivalent of the much-maligned Latin paterfamilias, who had the power of life and death over their newborn child.