MPs and campaigners have vowed to fight abortion decriminalisation in the House of Lords after a policing bill was ‘hijacked’ to push through landmark reforms with limited scrutiny.
On Tuesday MPs voted for the biggest change to abortion law for half a century, meaning women will no longer be prosecuted for aborting their baby for any reason and at any stage up to birth.
This was introduced as an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill - which is concerned with police powers and anti-social behaviour - meaning MPs had less than two hours to debate the most consequential change since the 1967 Abortion Act.
Tuesday night was the first time this amendment was debated in the Commons and campaigners claim that pro-choice MPs ‘hijacked’ the Crime Bill to force through the change and limit scrutiny.
Had it been introduced as a standalone Government Bill this would have guaranteed hours of debate and scrutiny, with MPs given the opportunity to amend the legislation to add safeguards.
