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Archbishop John Sherrington has added his voice to those concerned about a controversial amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that would effectively legalise abortion up to the point of birth.
The amendment removes all criminal sanctions from abortion and was passed by the House of Commons earlier this year and is currently being debated in the House of Lords.
Archbishop Sherrington, who is the Lead Bishop for Life Issues for the Catholic Church in England and Wales, said he was “deeply distressed” at the proposal, adding that it threatened the safety of vulnerable women as well as unborn children.
“This amendment would allow women to perform abortions at home, up to birth, regardless of the circumstances,” he said.
“Such a law places the health of women at greater risk as well as placing them at risk of coercion, as more women may use abortion pills to perform late-term, ‘DIY’ abortions.
“The amendment also threatens the lives of many more children, who could be aborted after the current 24-week limit.”
The archbishop said he supported an amendment proposed by Baroness Monckton that would repeal the Commons amendment, and another proposal that would reinstate the requirement for in-person medical consultations before an abortion could be granted.
Opposition to unlimited abortion has been strong in the Lords. Crossbench peer Lord Alton said that the Commons had voted for a “grotesque measure” and denounced campaigners for turning a bill that was supposed to be about preventing crime into an abortion battleground.
“Hijacking an unrelated Bill to try to force through what would be the biggest change to abortion law in this country since the Abortion Act in 1967 is no way to make law,” he said.
At present British law permits abortion up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy, while the average in the European Union is 12 weeks. Around a quarter of a million babies are aborted every year at present and it is estimated that almost 11 million babies have been terminated since the passage of the Abortion Act in 1967.
