A domestic deception?

In early October, the Domestic Abuse Bill had its Second Reading in the House of Commons.

This is a landmark Bill and is designed to offer victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales much-needed improvements in support and protection, as they seek justice from their perpetrators. Yet, tragically, it could be exploited to change the current law on abortion in England and Wales to make it even more extreme.

It is hard not to overstate the importance of this Bill. It is taking aim at one of the deadliest issues in our society. When you look at the statistics, they tell a sorry story. Between April 2014 and March 2017, the police in England and Wales recorded 400 domestic homicides. This represents 25% of all homicide victims aged 16 or over.

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, in the year up to March 2018, a staggering 2million adults experienced domestic abuse. Sadly, many of these incidents go unreported. Over the same time period, 599,549 domestic abuse-related crimes were recorded by the police. Such shocking statistics show why it’s critical to address this issue.

Domestic abuse can be deceptive. Hidden behind smiles lies a much more sinister desire to control, manipulate and coerce victims into obedience and silence. The problem is that our existing laws are clearly not working as effectively as they should. The police need more powers and, crucially, victims need confidence that they will be properly supported. So it is right that the Government looks to address this issue.

Domestic abuse is a horrific assault on the dignity of God’s image bearers. There is no justification for violent, coercive or cruel treatment of others, and it is particularly tragic that this is a crime that overwhelmingly affects women. As Christians, we are deeply committed to supportive relationships, to healthy marriages, to strong families and to good parenting. We care about injustice and want to see human dignity protected. With this in mind, we can be thankful for this initiative and pray that it proves effective.

Attempted hijack?

But there is one serious threat posed by this Bill: it is in respect to abortion. There are those who are so determined to pursue the ideology that there must be no limitations on abortion, that they will hijack a Bill designed to help victims of domestic abuse to see their goal achieved.

They are seeking the so-called ‘decriminalisation’ of abortion. Such a pursuit, deceptively couched in terms like ‘choice’ and ‘bodily autonomy’, ultimately acts to ensure that unborn babies have no remaining legal protection in England and Wales up to viability. This worldview places a woman and her baby in opposition to one another, as if both have competing interests, rather than the nurturing, symbiotic relationship God has designed between two individual bodies – both with full personhood.

In the name of ‘equal rights for women’, such a move will result in less protection for victims of domestic abuse, many of whom are coerced into having abortions, and will leave many more thousands of women suffering the often difficult emotional and physical consequences of abortion.

There have already been 9million abortions in Britain since 1967. Human nature is such that if you make something easier more people will choose to do it. It is no exaggeration to say that this Bill, which could achieve so much good, presents the most serious threat to the value of life in Britain for more than 50 years. If MPs do succeed in using the Bill to change abortion law, it could also undermine the Bill itself, damaging noble efforts to address domestic abuse. Time and effort will be used up on abortion, rather than the main issue of domestic abuse.

It remains to be seen if MPs have enough courage to do the right thing and make sure the Bill is not hijacked. Maybe the change in Speaker will be positive. Sadly, if past experience is anything to go by, we know how easily MPs fall into line to promote the abortion agenda. It’s not necessarily because they all agree; sadly it is fear of what others might say that wins the day.