Life and death in focus

Last month, a truly awful abortion amendment was withdrawn from the UK Government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Its intention was to legalise abortion to birth for any reason in England and Wales.

Had it succeeded, the door would have been opened to sex-selective abortion and ever-increasing numbers of abortions. In a context where 200,000 abortions took place in England and Wales last year alone and where 9.5 million have taken place since 1967, the situation could hardly be made worse. I’d love to tell you that the amendment was withdrawn because of a growing concern in Parliament about the abortion lobby. The truth, I suspect, is more complex. Tacking an amendment that would have resulted in major social change onto another Bill is a sure-fire way of irking colleagues in the Commons. The MP who tabled the amendment, Diana Johnson, herself claimed it was only a ‘probing amendment’ and she never planned to push it to a vote. At the same time, it was encouraging to see and hear stories of how Christians did their bit – writing to our MPs and engaging with the issue clearly had an impact. Anecdotally I’ve been told that MPs received more than 71,000 emails and letters. For anyone who has been used to being rebuffed by their MP in recent times, it is surely an encouraging reminder to keep going. Sometimes our efforts at lobbying do help to make a difference.

The day after a radical pro-abortion amendment was considered in the Commons, a seminal, pro-life court case began. Down’s syndrome campaigner Heidi Crowter, alongside Máire Lea-Wilson, whose eleven-month-old son Aidan has Down’s syndrome, is arguing that current abortion law discriminates against people with disabilities. Whilst most abortions take place under ‘Ground C’, where the limit is 24 weeks, babies with a ‘serious handicap’ can be aborted to birth. That’s been widely interpreted to include entirely treatable conditions like club foot, cleft lip and Down’s syndrome as well.

If this legal challenge succeeds, it could open the door to a renewed debate about abortion and, at the very least, would represent the first step towards overturning existing laws.

This month, the Westminster Parliament is in recess. Looking ahead to when MPs and Peers return, there are at least three clear threats to the value of life. Firstly, the Police Bill will go to the House of Lords where it’s possible another amendment will be added, aimed at making abortion more available. Secondly, in late July, a new NHS Bill was introduced by the Government. Within scope of that Bill is abortion and assisted suicide. We may see both pro-abortion and pro-assisted suicide amendments at the same time.

In autumn, we can also expect a big debate in the House of Lords on Baroness Meacher’s assisted suicide Bill. It is purporting to change the law to give terminally ill adults with six months or less to live the option of an assisted death.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I have written on life issues in recent years. Speaking recently with John Wyatt, a Christian ethicist, he said many in society see assisted suicide as a fait accompli – the next great step in a ‘progressive’ journey towards a better society. If the UK goes down this road, many other countries could follow.

This makes the next few months critical. Legalising doctor-assisted killing would mark a further departure from God’s truth. It would open the door, in time, to more and more people being included in the categories of people allowed to choose an assisted death. We cannot ignore the ongoing threats to the dignity of life at its beginning and its end. The church has used its voice to help thwart a radical abortion amendment. It must continue to speak up for the value of life from the cradle to the grave.