It is a big week for big Commons moments. On Monday, we had the long-awaited announcement of an inquiry into grooming gangs; today it is the battle of the abortion amendments. This afternoon Lindsay Hoyle will choose whether to call Tonia Antoniazzi or Stella Creasy’s amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill. Antoniazzi’s measure would allow abortion for any reason up to birth while maintaining criminal sanctions for doctors performing late-term or sex-selective procedures.
Creasy, however, has adopted the more hard-line position of full decriminalisation in all circumstances. Now, Mr S has got his hands on some polling – and it is bad news for Stella. More than 2,100 adults were polled by Whitestone Insight between 2nd and 3rd June. When asked ‘What do you think the time limit should be in Britain?’ just 3 per cent of women believe that ‘it should be extended to birth’. That, incidentally, is the same percentage of Labour voters who agree with the Hon. Member for Walthamstow.
The polling also shows that the public ranked introducing ‘abortion up to birth’ at the bottom of a list of 20 possible priorities they want the the House of Commons to pursue over the next 12 months, with only one in 50 people listing it as a preferred area of focus. When asked the following question:
In recent years, a few prosecutions have taken place for illegal abortions after the 24-week time limit and as late as eight months into pregnancy. Where do you think the blame should mainly lie for this?
Only 8 per cent blamed ‘The law which does not permit abortions of healthy babies beyond 24 weeks gestation, on the basis that this is considered to be the point after which most babies are able to survive outside the womb’. So much for the political mainstream…
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