LEICESTER, United Kingdom – In Britain, Parliament has voted to decriminalise abortion, a move that has “deeply alarmed” the Catholic bishops.

Abortion remains a criminal offence in England and Wales if it takes place after 24 weeks of pregnancy, although there are various exceptions in place in the law, including the woman’s life is in danger, there is a severe fetal abnormality, and the woman is at risk of grave physical and mental injury.

However, an amendment to the government’s Prime and policing Bill says women procuring an abortion outside the legal framework cannot be prosecuted. However, the doctors violating the law could still be prosecuted.

Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool, the Lead Bishop for Life Issues for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said the alarm of the bishops “arises from our compassion for both mothers and unborn babies.”

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“New Clause 1 lifts any criminal liability for women performing their abortions for any reason, at any time, including up to and during birth,” he said.

“This decision significantly reduces the protection of unborn lives and will result in grave harm for pregnant women. Women will be even more vulnerable to manipulation, coerced and forced abortions. This legal change will also discourage medical consultation and make the use of abortion pills for dangerous late-term, at-home abortions more likely,” Sherrington added.

“Abortion is often chosen because of the personal challenges that a woman faces, as well as the lack of proper suitable guidance and support. The enacting of New Clause 1 will result in women being more alone, vulnerable, and isolated,” the archbishop continued.

Carla Lockhart, a member of Parliament from Northern Ireland, said, “both lives matter in every pregnancy.”

“It is important to outline that since the 1967 Act was brought into force in the United Kingdom, 10 million abortions have taken place. One baby is lost to abortion every two and a half minutes; that is 26 lives every hour—and this debate will last three hours. That is stark. I come at this issue from the perspective of life and the protection of life. In every pregnancy, both lives matter,” she told Parliament.

She called for an end to the “abortion pills by mail” scheme adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the upswing in easily obtained illegal abortions.

“[T]he pills-by-post scheme has enabled women, either dishonestly or because they have miscalculated their gestational age, to obtain abortion pills beyond the 10-week limit when at-home abortions are legal and considered safe for women—they are, of course, never safe for the baby—and even beyond the 24-week upper time limit for abortions in this country. Tragically, that has led to viable babies’ lives being ended. The responsibility for that surely lies with those who lobbied for the pills-by-post scheme,” Lockhart said.

In his statement, Sherrington said, “we cannot lose hope.”

“The Church keeps working tirelessly to protect the dignity of every life. We will not abandon pregnant women and their unborn children in their most vulnerable moment. I thank all those within and outside the Church who share this commitment and continue to serve parents in need and their babies,” he said.

“Let us continue to pray and commend the lives of these women, children, their families, and all who support them to the maternal intercession of Our Lady, Mother of God,” added the archbishop.

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