Loving your pro-abortion neighbour after THAT vote

Last night MPs debated the Crime and Policing Bill, and voted by a majority of 242 to decriminalise abortion at any gestation time when a woman has acted in relation to her own pregnancy.

I hope it goes without saying that I have immense compassion for women faced with this impossible decision. The cases of late term abortions in the news recently are deeply sad – often stories of desperation, trauma, and fear.

My party does not have a whip on such issues, and I think that is the case for most parties. Abortion is considered a conscience matter, and for that I am grateful. I voted against this amendment.

The Abortion Act 1967 already creates an exception to the consideration of abortion as a criminal offence, making it lawful on licensed premises under certain conditions – as long as the pregnancy has been less than 24 weeks, with the approval of two doctors. Whilst last night’s vote does not remove these safeguards, it will make an abortion lawful even if not checked by these safeguards, and ultimately – in my view - puts women and children at serious risk.

I voted against this amendment not because I want to prosecute and shame women who seek late term abortions. I want women who break the law in extreme circumstances to be treated with leniency and compassion. I do however hold serious concerns including that decriminalisation increases the opportunities for coercion from an abusive partner into a dangerous late term abortion. Decriminalisation is unsafe for women and unsafe for unborn children.

However, I urge us as Christians, not to focus on this one issue in isolation. This has happened in the US where abortion becomes the key battle field in a culture war, where your stance on it is considered to define your entire political outlook. To go that way is to allow vulnerable women and vulnerable unborn children to become pawns in a war of words.

The abortion debate is so often toxic, lacking in respect, sensitivity or curiosity towards the other side. I observe, in both the US and the UK, a lack of understanding of or compassion towards people who take a different view. There is a danger that both sides end up dehumanising either the women who are affected or the unborn child… or both.

In America the Compassion and Conviction campaign – known as AND for short – is led by friend of mine, Michael Wear. They support both social justice and moral order in the public square – stating that Christians must be advocates for flourishing in the whole of life, the public and the private.

Yes, this means being consistent with the contentious ethical issues dealing with the beginning and end of life – abortion, assisted dying, capital punishment. But it also means being consistent with other issues in the middle of life – maternal mortality rates, low pay, the two child benefit cap, health inequalities, and the housing crisis.

This seems so relevant to us this moment where we face a series of these conscience votes on ethical issues, including of course the votes on assisted dying legislation last Friday and this coming Friday. These are issues of huge magnitude, with real and immediate consequences.

Lack of respect for the issues

But it feels almost irresponsible that decisions of such weight as decriminalising abortion have been tacked on to a bill about entirely different and crucial issues, and debated for only two hours. It certainly represents a failure to consider these issues with the respect and seriousness that they deserve.

You may draw different conclusions to me on these issues, and indeed there were Christian MPs voting both ways last night, but I am certain that we all need to be able to model Christian compassion without condemnation. We can recognise the awful situations that many women considering an abortion find themselves facing, whilst still maintaining that unborn children are undeniably human beings and should have protection as the most vulnerable people on the planet.

These issues are necessarily emotive, but as we seek to love our neighbour, it is also our responsibility to seek to recognise the humanity of all involved, to show curiosity about the reasoning of those with whom we disagree, to genuinely love and seek to understand others – and not to show hostility towards those who disagree with us, even if we are treated with hostility in return.