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Bishop John Sherrington, Lead Bishop for Life Issues for the Bishops’ Conference, has released a statement on the Criminal Justice Bill expressing deep concern about two amendments (called NC1 and NC40) that seek to liberalise abortion laws, due to be debated on Wednesday 15 May. Four amendments have been submitted to the Criminal Justice Bill which relate to the protection of unborn babies. Bishop Sherrington has voiced support for two of them - one of which would reduce the abortion time limit (NC15) and the other (NC41) which would bring an end to the situation whereby babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome can be aborted up to birth. He expressed "deep alarm" at two other amendments to the same Bill, one of which is proposed by Dame Diana Johnson MP (NC1). Speaking yesterday, Bishop John said:

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"[The NC1] amendment, if passed, will remove any legal protection for unborn babies when a woman seeks to bring about her own abortion at any stage of pregnancy. A further danger presented by this amendment is that women could abort their own pregnancies at home through the use of abortion pills at any point in the pregnancy, which could seriously endanger a woman’s health and life. Moreover, the risks of coerced or forced abortion would only increase as the legal safeguards around abortion decrease.

"The second amendment by Stella Creasy MP 'New Clause 40' (NC40) includes proposals to decriminalise abortion up to the 24th week for any party involved and carries similar threats to pregnant women and their unborn babies... Our current legislation provides some level of protection for pregnant mothers and unborn babies by keeping abortion within the criminal law. Relaxing abortion legislation further would be a tragic mistake for both mother and child. As Pope Francis has said: 'It is troubling to see how simple and convenient it has become for some to deny the existence of a human life as a solution to problems that can and must be solved for both the mother and her unborn child.'"

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CBCEW has a comprehensive explanation of the proposed changes and the action you can take on their website here. Since publishing this article a new amendment (NC115) has been proposed by MP Flick Drummond, this new clause would mean that a pregnant woman would need to have an in-person consultation before lawfully being prescribed medicine for the termination of a pregnancy - you can find out more on the Right to Life website. To read Bishop John's statement in full, click here. The annual "March for Life" takes place on Saturday 7 September this year. You can find out more on the March for Life website.