A fresh battle over abortion is looming in Parliament with an attempt to decriminalise abortions completely.
Labour MP Diana Johnson's bill looks to go further than the 1967 Abortion Act and will be heard for the first time as a 10-minute rule bill on March 13. Johnson insisted the law would not remove current restrictions on terminations such as the 24-week gestation limit.
She told Christian Today: 'My 10 Minute Rule Bill is seeking to decriminalise the law on abortion applying to women and doctors. The law covering abortion relates back to the 1861 Offences Against the Persons Act, which is over a hundred and fifty years old and means that England and Wales has some of the harshest criminal sanctions in Europe connected to abortion.
'The Bill does not seek to de-regulate abortion or change time limits. The provisions in The Abortion Act 1967 can continue but would be the responsibility of the professional bodies overseeing the medical profession rather than the Police and CPS.'
But opponents are considering how to oppose the ten-minute rule bills which are typically passed on the nod and are not legally binding.
Christian charity CARE is also campaigning against the bill but director of public policy Dan Boucher said it was 'just a kite-flying exercise'.
He told Christian Today: 'Abortion's place within criminal law provides some important protections that would be removed if this was changed by a decriminalisation strategy.
'It is very important to remember abortions are a taking of a human life and is not something that should be done lightly if at all.'
He added: 'CARE is interested in the rights of the mother and the child and we don't think the removal of abortions from within the criminal law would be in the best interest of either.'
Abortions are technically still illegal in the UK and under an 1861 act are punishable by life imprisonment. The 1967 Abortion Act provided exemptions allowing abortions when two doctors approve.
The sale of self-administered abortion pills are rising rapidly and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas) has warned women risk criminal charges because they do not realise abortions remain illegal without doctor's consent.
Johnson's bill, supported by bpas and other women's groups, would decriminalise abortions and allow for terminations on demand.
A statement from bpas read: 'While it is only a fledgling bill, this is the first piece of pro-choice legislation to be debated in the House of Commons since the 1967 Abortion Act and if it became law, would protect women who do need to use online abortion pills from criminal sanction.'
Chief executive Ann Furedi added: 'At bpas, we do all that we can to make abortion services as accessible as possible, However it is clear that for some women the barriers to clinic-based treatment feel insurmountable. These are women in desperate and difficult circumstances. They are not criminals deserving of life imprisonment.'
Christian Today has contacted Diana Johnson for comment.
