2025: Week 24 - Abortion, Assisted Dying and the Middle East
It has been a week of sensitive and divisive debates in Parliament.
Last week an amendment was tabled to the Crime and Policing Bill to decriminalise women who had had an abortion. The amendment was about the criminal law related to abortion for women acting in relation to their own pregnancies. There was no proposal to change the current legislation laid out in the 1967 Abortion Act, nor to change how current abortion services are delivered. It was purely to remove women from the criminal justice system at a time when they are at their most vulnerable. The safeguards around late abortions will still be there, as will the illegality of medical professionals performing the procedure after 24 weeks; but crucially, women would no longer face prosecution. Healthcare professionals acting outside the law and abusive partners using violence or other means to end a pregnancy would still be criminalised, as they are now.
Whilst I appreciate that abortion is a very divisive subject, we have to ensure that women are protected, and not subject to cruel and unnecessary criminal proceedings during what is a very traumatic time. I voted for this amendment as I believe that prosecuting women in this way is not in the public interest, it doesn’t serve any purpose and has no place in modern society.
On Friday the House debated the Assisted Dying Bill. This private member’s bill has had a huge amount of hours devoted to it, and the final vote for MPs came on Friday, with the bill passing with a small majority of 23. The bill will now pass through the House of Lords, for them to afford it proper scrutiny, and then it will come back to Parliament for MPs to vote on it a final time. This will not be a quick process, but we have to hope that it can be finalised during this parliamentary session. Having listened to the debates I am confident that the bill as it stands offers robust safeguarding measures to prevent it being misused, and gives terminally ill adults meaningful control over the final months of their life. As Pru Leith said to me – it frees people to live that time without the worry.
The situation in the Middle East is becoming increasingly concerning, the ongoing conflict between the Israeli government and Hamas cannot continue. The Lib Dems have long advocated for a political and diplomatic solution to the issues in Israel and Palestine. A two-state solution is the only way to deliver the long term peace and security which the people of Israel and Palestine deserve. An immediate bi-lateral ceasefire is needed, to resolve the humanitarian devastation in Gaza, get the remaining hostages home and provide space to secure peace.
Now that Israel has launched missile strikes on Iran, the situation has become increasingly dangerous, and I’m not sure that Trump or his administration have the necessary negotiating skills to lead on talks in the region. Our Government needs to take action and do all they can to stabilise the region and open channels for meaningful talks between the states.