On 20 June 2025, the Church of England issued the Press Release, Abortion law changes: comment from the Bishop of London, which is reproduced below.
Abortion law changes: comment from the Bishop of London
20/06/2025
“Compassion and care required” says Bishop of London following MPs’ vote to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales.
The Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, said:
“Women facing unwanted pregnancies are confronted with the hardest of choices. Ultimately, they require compassion and care in order to support them fully in the heart-wrenching decision they must take. They should not be prosecuted.
“However, decriminalising abortion can at the same time inadvertently undermine the value of unborn life. The amendment passed to the Crime and Policing Bill[*] may not change the 24-week abortion limit, but it undoubtedly risks eroding the safeguards and enforcement of those legal limits. Women suffering from coercion, or those who are victims of sexual or domestic abuse, would be the most vulnerable to the proposed change, which does not consider improvements to abortion care, nor address the inadequacies of the ‘pills by post’ assessments. These concerns are well set out in the letter signed by over 200 clergy published in the Telegraph this morning.
“Considering any fundamental reform to this country’s abortion laws should not be done via an amendment to another Bill. There should be public consultation and robust Parliamentary process to ensure that every legal and moral aspect of this debate is carefully considered and scrutinised. We need a path that supports women, not one that puts them and their unborn children in the way of greater harm.”
[*] New Clause 1: Removal of women from the criminal law related to abortion
“For the purposes of the law related to abortion, including sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, no offence is committed by a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy.”—(Tonia Antoniazzi.)
This new clause would disapply existing criminal law related to abortion from women acting in relation to her own pregnancy at any gestation, removing the threat of investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment. It would not change any law regarding the provision of abortion services within a healthcare setting, including but not limited to the time limit, telemedicine, the grounds for abortion, or the requirement for two doctors’ approval.”
“New Clause 1” has now been incorporated in the Bill as brought to the Lords on 19June 2025 as “Clause 191”.
I note that the Bishop of London didn’t mention care and compassion for the unborn child. For very late abortions, which this amendment is aimed at addressing, the child will be capable of being born alive. Many do after 24 plus weeks. Exodus 20:13 would address, inter alia, such situations.
When you read Hansard and see such facts as:
“Nearly five years ago, having suffered a rare complication in her abortion treatment, Nicola Packer lay down in shock, having just delivered a foetus at home. Later arriving at hospital, bleeding and utterly traumatised, she had no idea that her ordeal was about to get profoundly worse and that her life would be torn apart. Recovering from surgery, Nicola was taken from her hospital bed by uniformed police officers in a police van and arrested for illegal abortion offences. In custody, her computers and phone were seized, and she was denied timely access to vital anti-clotting medication.
What followed was a four-and-a-half year pursuit by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service that completely overshadowed Nicola’s life, culminating in her being forced to endure the indignity and turmoil of a trial. She spent every penny she had funding her defence. The most private details of her life were publicly aired, and she had to relive the trauma in front of a jury—all that ultimately to be cleared and found not guilty.
Nicola’s story is deplorable, but there are many others.”
You realise something must be done to protect innocent women who have not tried to abort their unborn baby – a complex matter.
Clearly the jury found Ms Packer not guilty and that must be respected. However a quick google search found this review of the start of the case on ITV.com.
https://www.itv.com/news/london/2025-04-25/woman-accused-of-illegal-abortion-brought-foetus-to-hospital-in-backpack
In any event why abolish an entire crime just because the prosecution authorities may have acted inappropriately. We don’t do that for other crimes.
It is disappointing that the Bishop of London did not feel able to express the mainstream Christian viewpoint – please read
https://www.christiandaily.com/news/christian-leaders-condemn-uk-vote-to-decriminalize-late-term-abortions-more-women-being-injured
I would hope that the House of Lords will find time to debate this important issue properly and that the majority of our bishops will speak in defence of the unborn child, who may be about to be born at the time of whatever offence may be committed under the law as it still stands today, which could not be prosecuted if the law is changed as proposed. There is not even any equivalence between the laws protecting animals and the unborn child. No consideration has been given to the wrongness and cruelty of depriving a full term unborn child of his or her right to life or the pain and sufffering which may be inflicted in the absence of any medical advice or help. It is shocking our elected MPs have so little understanding of basic human decency that they voted for this ill considered amendment with barely any debate. Surely women who want an abortion should consult a doctor rather than trying to abort their child themselves. Arguments about the long drawn out legal procedure and the lack of legal aid are separate issues. Of course our court system must be speeded up and legal aid provided to those who need it, but these are not arguments for abolishing criminal law.
For a helpful review of this issue see
https://www.christian.org.uk/features/how-abortion-activists-are-using-nicola-packer-to-push-for-more-extreme-laws/
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