Abortion decriminalisation ‘undermines feminism'
A landmark vote to decriminalise abortion at any point up to birth 'undermines the legitimacy of feminism', a gender-critical academic has claimed.
On Tuesday night, MPs voted with a majority of 242 to decriminalise seeking an abortion at any stage of gestation for any reason.
As a result, the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, which outlaws abortion, will be amended so that it no longer applies to women ending their own pregnancies.
The historic vote has divided public opinion, with many welcoming the 'hard-won victory' for women, and others warning that it goes too far.
Kathleen Stock, a former philosophy professor at the University of Sussex, who was forced to quit her job following a row with the institution over her views on gender rights and its transgender policy, was among those criticising the ruling.
'Late-term abortions kill babies,' she said. 'Viable babies.'
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, she added: 'There is no good case for full decriminalisation as voted for today. And there is no genuine political will for it either, because most people haven't been slowly boiled in a vat of hyperliberal feminism and progressive technocracy like overheating frogs, until they can't tell which way is up.
'All this will do is further undermine the legitimacy of feminism generally (by association, even if some feminists are actually against it) and also undermine public trust in lawmakers (How could this have been decided so quickly without any proper consultation or discussion of a wide range of views? Why wasn't it in the manifesto, if it is so important?).'
Abortion in England and Wales is currently a criminal offence. However, it is legal if carried out with an authorised provider up to 24 weeks, with very limited circumstances permitting one after this period.
Women may also take prescribed medication at home if they are less than 10 weeks pregnant.
The vote was tabled by the Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who criticised the current 'Victorian' laws for being used against vulnerable women and said that the decriminalisation would ensure women do not face arrest, investigation, prosecution or imprisonment regarding any pregnancies.
Caroline Ansell, director of advocacy and policy at the social policy charity Care, described the vote as 'truly heartbreaking'.
'Parliament has taken an extreme and retrograde step that will pave the way for more, harrowing late-term abortions. The decriminalisation of abortion will place women at greater risk of trauma and hospitalisation,' she said.
However, Heidi Stewart, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, welcomed the 'hard-won victory', hailing it as 'a landmark moment for women's rights in this country and the most significant change to our abortion law since the 1967 Abortion Act was passed'.
She added: 'There will be no more women investigated after enduring a miscarriage, no more women dragged from their hospital beds to the back of a police van, no more women separated from their children because of our archaic abortion law.
'When we launched the campaign to decriminalise abortion in 2016, we could not have envisaged that within a decade, such progress would be achieved.
'In the past six years, we have seen more progressive reform of abortion law than we had seen in the previous 50. Today's vote is testament to the strength of support for abortion rights across the healthcare sector, civil society, Parliament and the country as a whole.
'We look forward to continuing to work with MPs to deliver wider reform and an abortion framework fit for the 21st century.'
Ms Stewart also highlighted the 'traumatic experience' of Nicola Packer, who took abortion medication during the Covid-19 lockdown in Nov 2020 and brought the baby to a London hospital in a backpack the following day.
Jurors were told she took prescribed medications when she was about 26 weeks pregnant, when the legal limit is 10 weeks, and claimed that she knew this.
During her trial, she spoke of her 'shock' at being pregnant before breaking down and saying: 'If I had known I was that far along, I wouldn't have done it.'
In May, jurors found her not guilty of having an illegal abortion.
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