Petition to: Sajid Javid
Stop Abortion Industry Hijacking Bill to Allow Abortion Up to Birth
Stop Abortion Industry Hijacking Bill to Allow Abortion Up to Birth
The Home Office’s Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill seeks to protect women. However, the abortion industry plans to hijack this bill by including a section which will bring in abortion up to birth. This means abortion up to birth for any reason, including because the baby is a girl or even an abortion the day before the baby is born.
Currently sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Persons Act (OAPA) make abortion a criminal offence in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. However, the Abortion Act 1967 provided certain conditions under which abortion is permissible, allowing over 190,000 abortions a year. Abortion providers, who collect over £100M every year, want even more abortions so they are working to remove sections 58 and 59 of the OAPA which will make the Abortion Act useless and therefore allow abortion up until birth. They want to do this by including in the Domestic Violence Bill, the repeal of sections 58 and 59 of OAPA.
The removal of all legal restrictions on abortion leaves women open to exploitation and risks their health. In 2016, abortion provider Marie Stopes International had its operations suspended after inspectors found 2634 unsafe incidents in one year. The current law meant that this malpractice could be stopped but if abortion is removed from the law, there will be no legal safeguards to prevent abortion giants such as MSI putting women at risk.
Indeed, a 2017 ComRes survey showed that 70% of English women believe “criminal law plays an essential role in protecting patients against medical malpractice.”
As well as putting women’s health at risk, removing abortion from criminal law will aid abusers and child grooming gangs. We only have to look at horrific cases of sexual abuse in Telford, Rotherham and Rochdale (to name a few) to see how abortion has been used to cover up rape of girls as young as 12. A 14-year-old girl, repeatedly raped in Telford, said “no one questioned anything. I had two abortions and still nothing was said to me.”
Additionally, men like Gil Magira who was convicted under sections 58 and 59 of the OAPA for lacing his wife’s food with abortifacient drugs to induce an abortion, will be able to escape punishment.
Abuses are already happening under the current law but we cannot let them become more widespread. The Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill should protect women not put them at risk. Sign this petition to the Home Secretary today to stop the abortion industry hijacking this bill and endangering women.
UPDATE: Abortion lobbyists have released further information about their plans. Do not be fooled by their reassurances. They are clear that abortion up until birth would not be a crime. (https://www.amnesty.org.uk/files/2018-10/Abortion-reform-bill-briefing.pdf)
Sign this petition now!
Petition to: Sajid Javid
Dear Mr Javid,
I am writing to you out of concern that the Domestic Violence Bill which you will soon be presenting to the House of Commons will be hijacked by parliamentarians cooperating with the abortion industry to bring in abortion up to birth.
I am aware of moves to include a section in your bill which seeks to repeal Sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Persons Act (OAPA). Sections 58 and 59 of the OAPA make abortion a criminal offence unless certain conditions specified by the Abortion Act 1967 are followed. The repeal of Sections 58 and 59 of OAPA will make the Abortion Act and its conditions null and void paving the way for abortion for any reason without the threat of criminal sanctions against the abortion industry.
If abortion is removed from criminal law, far from women being protected by your bill, women will be vulnerable to exploitation by the abortion industry which has a history of risking their health and safety. The Care Quality Commission in 2016 uncovered 2634 health and safety breaches at Marie Stopes International(MSI) abortion clinics. The law currently allows for MSI’s licence to be revoked if it breaches the conditions of the Abortion Act and place the health and safety of women at risk. If organisations like MSI have been breaking the rules when the law is in place, imagine what they will do when abortion is totally removed from criminal law.
Your bill seeks to protect women from grooming and sexual exploitation. However abortion has been used as a tool by abusers to cover up their crimes. Under the current law, abortions must be approved by two doctors, which provide a safeguarding opportunity to identify cases of sexual exploitation. The two-doctor requirement is already missing opportunities to protect women and its total dismissal will worsen the situation.
In particular I foresee more situations like the grooming and abuse cases in Telford, Newcastle, Oxford, Rochdale, Rotherham and Ayrshire where abortions were used to cover up crimes. Additionally, men like Gil Magira, convicted under sections 58 and 59 of the OAPA for lacing his wife’s food with abortifacient drugs to induce an abortion, will be able to escape punishment.
I therefore appeal to you to reject attempts to use your bill to remove abortion from criminal law. It will not be in the interest of women and runs contrary to the spirit and objectives of the Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill.
