Britain is on the cusp of decriminalizing abortion all the way up to birth, with a poll of Members of Parliament (MPs) showing a majority in favor of decriminalization ahead of a critical vote in the House of Commons.
Dame Diana Johnson MP, of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, has put forward an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill which would end prosecutions of women for killing their babies after 24 weeks, which remains outlawed under the 19th-century Offences Against the Person Act.
The House of Commons will vote on the amendment in March, and polling shows 55 percent of MPs support an end to such prosecutions of mothers, including 81 percent of Labour MPs and 71 percent of MPs first elected in 2019 — mostly Conservatives chosen to run under Boris Johnson.
The polling was carried out by the so-called British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), which aborts more babies, mostly with money provided by the socialized National Health Service (NHS), than any other organization in Britain.
“There is support for change from both sides of the House, and the UK does not have a strong party divide on abortion like there is in America,” boasted BPAS chief of staff Rachael Clarke.
“Our polling does show a huge gender divide, with three-quarters of female MPs believing women should not be prosecuted compared to less than half of male MPs,” she added.
