The amendment would protect rights to abortion in law
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab has ruled out making abortion a human right in the new British Bill of Rights.
The amendment, first proposed by Labour’s Stella Creasy, would seek to establish women’s access to abortion in the U.K. as a human right – after she warned that reproductive rights were “more fragile than people realise”.
It comes after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade – the decision that legalised abortion nationwide in 1973.
Dominic Raab refused to commit to including a women's right to choose in a new bill of rights at #PMQs pic.twitter.com/0LykPnwd4M
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) June 29, 2022
The proposal was put to Raab during Wednesday’s session of Prime Minister’s Questions by Labour’s Rosie Duffield who asked the Justice Secretary to “send a clear signal…that Britain respects the rights of women”.
She said: “So far this year, fifty-two women have been killed in the UK.
“Our rights to free speech, safe spaces, fairness in sports, and even the words we use to describe our own bodies are more under threat
“Will he accept the cross party amendment for the forthcoming Bill of Rights, which enshrines that woman’s right to choose in law?”
Raab said he didn’t believe there was a “strong case for change” and would not want to see abortion “litigated through the courts”.
The decision will be disappointing for female rights campaigners who had hoped to protect women in the U.K. from the same fate as their American counterparts.
Since the Supreme Court announced its intention to overturn constitutional protections for abortion that have been in place for nearly 50 years on Friday, several Tory MPs have voiced their anti-choice opinions.
On Tuesday, Tory MP Danny Kruger made headlines after he told the House of Commons he did not agree that “women have an absolute right to bodily autonomy” when it came to abortion.
Criticism was also levied at the MP for Blackpool South, Scott Benton, who tweeted his support for the decision before quickly deleting the post from his account.
Tory MP Danny Kruger says he doesn’t agree “that women have an absolute right to bodily autonomy” on abortion.
He says he doesn’t believe we should lecture the United States on this “political” decision. pic.twitter.com/MUrlschI5I
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) June 28, 2022
People on social media have also posted reminders of a landmark vote that took place in 2019, that saw access to abortion in Northern Ireland brought in line with the rest of the UK.
Twitter users pointed out that Tories Steve Baker, Andrew Bridgen, Jacob Rees-Mogg and even Dominic Raab were among the nearly 100 MPs who voted to keep abortion illegal in Northern Ireland.
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