Athena Stavrou
Sun 28 September 2025
Campaigners have warned that Reform UK has become a “political refuge for anti-abortion politicians” amid fears Britain could experience a US-style politicisation of the issue.
Pro-choice activists have raised the alarm after several political figures who have previously called for greater restrictions on abortion defected to Nigel Farage’s party.”
Continued: https://au.news.yahoo.com/reform-proudly-embracing-anti-abortion-100056164.html
3 June, 2025
MPs yesterday debated decriminalising abortion following a public petition on the subject. The debate was led by All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group member Tony Vaughan MP. Humanists UK welcomes the debate and calls on MPs to back an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to take abortion out of the criminal code. This is likely to be voted on later this month.
The debate was called as the petition calling on the Government to decriminalise abortion received more than 100,000 signatures. It took place ahead of a proposed amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which seeks to remove women from the criminal law in relation ending their own pregnancies led by Tonia Antoniazzi MP and has the support of over 115 cross-party MPs and 50 pro-choice organisations including BPAS, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and Humanists UK. The amendment will not change abortion time limits or its provision in any way. If selected, the amendment will be voted on later this month.
Continued: https://humanists.uk/2025/06/03/mps-debate-decriminalising-abortion-in-england-and-wales/
The UK branch of the Alliance Defending Freedom has increased its spending and is forging ties with key MPs
Shanti Das, Home affairs correspondent
Sat 6 Apr 2024
A rightwing Christian lobby group that wants abortion to be banned has forged ties with an adviser to the prime minister and is drawing up policy briefings for politicians.
The UK branch of the US-based Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has more than doubled its spending since 2020 and been appointed a stakeholder in a parliamentary group on religious freedoms in a role that grants it direct access to MPs.
18 January, 2024
Humanists UK
The UK Government has proposed draft guidance for Abortion Safe Access Zones that would effectively overturn the will of Parliament through expansive religious loopholes which would render the legislation incapable of protecting women from abuse and harassment.
In 2022 and 2023, in a resolute response to escalating harassment of women at the hands of evangelical protesters outside abortion clinics, the UK Parliament voted overwhelmingly to establish Safe Access Zones around abortion clinics in England and Wales. These zones were expressly intended to protect women from a barrage of bullying and psychological abuse as they sought access to clinics, ensuring their right to medical care in a safe and dignified environment.
The proposal now has one last step to go through before becoming law
BY CARA ROGERS
1 FEB 2023
'Buffer zones' around abortion clinics in England and Wales are closer to becoming a reality following overwhelming support from the House of Lords in a debate, which took place on 30 January. The proposed legislation now has one last step to go before being passed – final approval from the House of Commons.
The proposed provision for buffer zones is an amendment to the Public Order Bill, which was added by Labour MP for Walthamstow, Stella Creasy.
Exclusive: Equalities committee chair Caroline Nokes joins international outcry after UK dilutes commitment to women’s rights without consultation
Lizzy Davies
Wed 27 Jul 2022
A senior Conservative MP has asked the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, to explain why the UK government appeared to perform a “sudden backtracking on women’s rights” after commitments to abortion and sexual health rights were removed from an official multi-nation statement on gender equality.
Caroline Nokes, who chairs the women and equalities select committee, has written to Truss, who is also the minister for women and equalities and a Tory leadership contender, asking why the key phrases relating to reproductive rights were deleted.
Exclusive: open letter sent to Liz Truss after removal of commitment to repeal laws threatening women and girls’ rights from global pact
Lizzy Davies
Fri 22 Jul 2022
The UK government is coming under growing pressure from European countries and human rights groups to explain why commitments to abortion and sexual health rights have been removed from an official statement on gender equality.
Norway and Denmark have approached the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) “to protest against the substantive changes” that were made to a paper that resulted from a UK-hosted conference on freedom of religion and belief, opened by Liz Truss earlier this month, the Guardian has learned.
A British anti-abortion group that gives talks in schools has received over £72,000 from the US over the last 2 years, VICE World News can reveal.
By Sophia Smith Galer
May 30, 2022
An anti-abortion group in the UK that gives talks to schoolchildren and medical professionals about what it terms “coerced abortion” is receiving tens of thousands of dollars from anonymous US-based backers, VICE World News can reveal.
Nearly £73,000 ($91,885, €85,330) has been donated anonymously via a donor agency called NPT Transatlantic in the past two years to the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child’s (SPUC) registered charity, one of the UK’s most active anti-abortion groups. The agency allows US and UK taxpayers to donate to organisations across the Atlantic without revealing their name and without qualifying for any tax deduction.
Continued: https://www.vice.com/en/article/93be83/anti-abortion-schools-uk
Humanists UK
Thursday 17 Mar 2022
During last night’s late night sitting in the House of Lords, running beyond 2am, peers voted to allow women to continue to access abortion services at home. Prior to Covid, women were required to attend a clinic in person to access abortion pills. But since then, they have been able to receive the pills by post. The UK Government recently announced it intended to withdraw this service in England from August, but the Lords have now voted in favour of keeping it. Humanists UK, which has repeatedly called on the Government to make these measures permanent, said it was delighted by the news. It has urged the Commons to not overturn the Lords’ vote.
The vote happened during the Report Stage of the Government’s Health and Care Bill. The abortion amendment, tabled by Conservative Peer Baroness Sugg, was passed by 75 votes to 35. Humanists UK briefed peers in support of the amendment. Three members of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) spoke for it, with many more voting in favour.
Abortion: NI regulations pass final Westminster vote
17 June 2020
Abortion regulations which came into effect in Northern Ireland in March have passed their final legislative hurdle in Westminster.
The laws were drafted in 2019 before the restoration of devolution at Stormont.
They allow for terminations in the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy and in some other limited circumstances.
Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-53081992
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