MPs reject abortion law amendment

By The Press Association24th February 2015News EnglandAbortion, Government / Politics, News England

A Conservative amendment to explicitly ban abortion on the basis of gender alone has been rejected by the Commons after MPs were told the backbench proposal would not change the law.

But Congleton MP Fiona Bruce’s amendment was backed by more than 200 MPs on its way to defeat by 292 votes to 201, majority 91, on a free vote.

An alternative amendment, providing for a review of the extent of gender selection abortion in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, was later backed overwhelmingly 491 to 2, majority 489.

The vote was one of a series held on report stage amendments to the Serious Crime Bill before the legislation was granted an unopposed third reading and cleared the Commons.

The Bill will now return to peers for further scrutiny of Commons amendments. The House of Lords has already passed the Bill at its initial stages.

Fears the Tory amendment on gender selection abortion would run out of time for debate proved unfounded as MPs sped through a series of topics in an report stage cut short by an earlier urgent question from shadow chancellor Ed Balls and a statement by the Prime Minister.

Moving her amendment, Ms Bruce said: “The arguments for this new clause are straightforward. Firstly, to clarify beyond doubt in statute that sex selective abortion is illegal in UK law.

“Note this clause is not seeking to change the law on abortion as some have said but to confirm and clarify it.

“Secondly, to provide the Government with an opportunity to address this problem – for example by bringing forward best practice regulations and guidance to support and protect women at risk of this.

“Why is this new clause necessary? It is necessary because there is no explicit statement about gender selective abortion in UK law. The law is being interpreted in different ways because when the 1967 Abortion Act was passed, scans to determine the sex of the foetus were not available.”

Health minister Jane Ellison said the Government had been consistently clear that abortion on the grounds of gender alone is “already illegal” and warned of unintended consequences of the proposal.

Shadow health minister Luciana Berger said: “It’s right we should send a strong message from the Parliament that gender selective abortions are wrong.”

Leading opposition, former GP Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the Health Select Committee, said the amendment was unnecessary, could have unintended consequences and MPs lacked parliamentary time to debate a fundamental change to an underlying principle of the Abortion Act.

The Conservative MP for Totnes said: “We’ve heard very clearly it is already illegal to terminate a pregnancy on the grounds of gender alone – rightly so, and that has been clarified since many of us agreed there was an issue.”

Conservative David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) quoted former director of public prosecutions Keir Starmer who has said the current law does not “expressly” prohibit gender selective abortions.

In other debates, Labour MP John Mann (Bassetlaw) failed in an attempt to lift the Official Secrets Act on people who could give valuable evidence on prominent individuals to child sex abuse inquiries.

His amendment was rejected 296 to 233, majority 63.

Sarah Champion, the Labour MP for Rotherham, failed in a bid to amend the Bill on child abduction warning notices. Her amendment was defeated 305 to 212, majority 93.

Home Office Minister Karen Bradley offered reassurance to Liberal Democrat Julian Huppert (Cambridge) on reforms to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) aimed at protecting journalists sources.

The Government has accepted the findings of a review by Sir Anthony May, which said a judge should approve requests for communications data that would identify a journalist’s sources.

Ministers have announced new regulations as a stop gap solution and Ms Bradley accepted this was not a long term solution.

Ms Bradley said: “The ultimate solution therefore is a piece of legislation which will give full effect to the commissioner’s recommendation.

“Regrettably, that will have to wait until after the election. But the Government has today published a draft clause for this purpose so there can be no doubt about how we intend to proceed as soon as the opportunity arises.”