This week saw the State Opening of Parliament, where the monarch (or, this year, Prince Charles) reads out the Government’s agenda for the upcoming parliamentary session. Amid the pomp and pageantry, and questions about Her Majesty’s health, what did we learn from this year’s Queen’s speech on pro-life issues?
On the face of it, not a lot. We’re not yet at the stage where the Government makes royalty openly talk about something as distasteful as abortion. But there are some things to note in the Government's briefing notes.
1. Northern Ireland
Page 117 includes a commitment to introduce further regulations on abortion in Northern Ireland. It states:
“The UK Government has also announced its intention to make further regulations to ensure that women and girls have access to safe, high-quality abortion care in Northern Ireland.”
SPUC’s court case against the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland’s attempts to force abortion on the Province continues, but clearly, the Government are not backing down.
2. Buffer zones?
One of the bills to be introduced is the Public Order Bill, which will “ensure the police have the powers to make the streets safer.” Although pro-life vigils outside clinics are not protests, such legislation could be used to try and curtail the rights of pro-lifers to peacefully demonstrate and offer help outside clinics. It could enable the pro-abortion lobby to table an amendment about pro-life protests outside abortion clinics. With a buffer zones bill having recently passed in Northern Ireland, and much noise about the issue in Scotland, it’s definitely something to be on the alert for.
3. Free speech in universities
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, which was introduced in the last parliamentary session, has been carried over into the new one. Brave pro-life students face escalating abuse and intimidation. We welcome this bill as an essential step in ensuring that they are given an equal voice. (You can sign our petition here https://citizengo.org/en-gb/signit/205469/view )
There are also mentions of “reproductive health” in the briefing notes’ comments on the Women’s Health Strategy.
The next important development will be the ballot of private member’s bills, where MPs and Peers apply for the chance to bring forward a bill of their choosing. The ballot for the House of Lords is held tomorrow, and the one in the Commons next Thursday. In the past, Diana Johnson MP has come high up in this ballot, which allowed her to bring forward a bill on decriminalising abortion. Although this attempt ran out of parliamentary time, there is always a danger that an MP or peer wishing to bring a bill on abortion or assisted suicide will get a top space on the ballot, giving them a higher chance of pushing legislation through.