THE 1967 Abortion Act states that abortions may be carried out only at legally registered premises i.e. in an abortion clinic. On May 19 two High Court judges upheld a government decision to allow at-home abortion, ruling that the woman’s home can now be classed as a legal premises. As Philippa Taylor has already explained on TCW, this means that medical abortions (taking pills to abort the foetus) may now be carried out in the home up to ten weeks into the pregnancy, a move for which abortion groups have been lobbying for years.
‘So what?’ you may ask. ‘What’s the difference between the unborn baby being flushed down the toilet instead of the sluice at an abortion clinic?’
But there’s some background to this story as: ‘To the delight of the abortion lobby, the pill manufacturers and abortionists, the Government have also removed any requirement for one (no longer is it even two) registered medical practitioner actually to see or even talk to a woman.’
The multi-million-pound abortion industry players are always on the lookout for ways of making abortions easier to procure.
For them the coronavirus has proved a godsend. With the lockdown they spotted a chance to push for even fewer restrictions.
It turns out they were pushing at an open door. Citing the potential danger of catching the virus if women have to attend a clinic, they pressurised the government for the change. The push was championed by Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) who’s made no secret of wanting to see abortion allowed up to birth for any reason in the name of the woman’s autonomy. You can listen to her contorted ‘moral’ argument here:
BPAS advised that between the start of the outbreak of coronavirus and the expected peak thirteen weeks later 44,000 women would ‘need’ abortions and were concerned the virus restrictions would inhibit this.
What happened next shows how much the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have been captured by the abortion industry. They immediately crumpled. They ignored the Abortion Act and declared that abortions could be performed at home. The outcry against this anti-democratic change forced an immediate U-turn and Lord Bethell gave this assurance for the Government on 15 May: ‘We believe that it is an essential safeguard that a woman attends a clinic, to ensure that she has an opportunity to be seen alone and to ensure that there are no issues.’ He also warned of the possibility that women ‘could be pressured into have an abortion by an abusive partner’.
That was on a Friday. The next Monday, presumably following further ‘advice’ from the BPAS, Marie Stopes et al, the DHSC caved in yet again and declared that women could indeed abort their babies at home. At this point the Christian Institute took the DHSC to the High Court, and lost. It is to appeal.
The abortion industry appear insatiable with no intention of losing the ground they have gained. There is little to suggest that their ambition is not to go the ‘full New Zealand’. There, abortion is permitted for any reason (including gender selection) up to birth.
There is a hierarchy of power in society. On the apex are those able to advocate for themselves. Below that are those unable to speak up for themselves but have others who can advocate on their behalf (‘befriended’ is the legal term). Lower still are those who find it hard to fight their own corner and have no-one to stick up for them (‘unbefriended’, I have a particular soft spot for such people). But abortion takes us into negative territory. The unborn are not just powerless and unbefriended, they have powerful enemies. These include the Government, the DHSC, the Courts and a wealthy abortion industry, all underpinned by a toxic anti-life world view. They are the unrepresentative establishment elite who are taking these arbitrary decisions for the rest of us.
The government have put in place unprecedented restrictions to tackle a virus that has so far taken about 36,000 lives. At the same time they have removed restrictions to ensure that nothing prevents 44,000 pre-born citizens from having their lives taken. I think the irony is lost on them.
