Anti-abortion campaigners are running as independent candidates in the general election against prominent MPs seeking re-election who supported decriminalisation.
The seats of Labour’s Diana Johnson and Stella Creasy and Conservative Caroline Nokes are all being targeted by anti-abortion activists. The three proposed or supported recent amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill which would have stopped prosecutions for anyone ending a pregnancy in England and Wales.
The vote was described by abortion provider British Pregnancy Advice Service (BPAS) as “the biggest on abortion rights in a generation”, but it never went ahead as the general election was called and parliament was dissolved.
Creasy is being challenged in Walthamstow by Ruth Rawlins from the Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform UK (CBRUK), a group which also launched a #StopStella campaign in 2019 after the MP successfully led a vote for abortion rights in Northern Ireland. At the time, Creasy said she had contacted police after being targeted by anti-abortion protesters in her constituency.
Creasy told the Observer she would want a police presence at local hustings if Rawlins were to participate. “In a democracy, candidates must be able to put themselves forward for office and for scrutiny without fear of harm. That principle covers us all, and I have made it clear to hustings organisers that I am happy to participate alongside those who hold anti-abortion views,” she said.
“It’s sad but necessary, given the history of intimidating and threatening behaviour from the CBRUK, that a police presence would be required for them to take part in such a debate.”
Rawlins said any accusations of harassment were false and that campaigners were “simply sharing with [Creasy’s] constituents her extreme abortion position”.
A CBRUK spokesperson added that no charges had been brought as a result of police investigating the complaint made by Stella Creasy about anti-abortion protests in her constituency.
Hull North and Cottingham, where Johnson is Labour’s candidate, is being contested by Pauline Peachey, founder of CBRUK’s Post Abortion Support for Everyone (PASE) project.
Johnson said she would continue to pursue decriminalisation if elected, to “bring our laws out of the Victorian era and in line with other countries from Northern Ireland, to Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and France”.
Abortions in England and Wales must be approved by two doctors and take place within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. Otherwise, it is illegal to deliberately end a pregnancy, under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, which carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
Data from BPAS earlier this year showed that while only three women had been convicted of having an illegal abortion in more than five decades between 1967 and 2022, six had been prosecuted in the 18 months to February.
“Victims of domestic abuse, human trafficking and sexual exploitation, as well as girls under 18, have been subjected to humiliating and dehumanising interrogations and detainment under the suspicion of ending their own pregnancies illegally,” Johnson said.
“Should I be re-elected, I look forward to working with colleagues, medical bodies, and abortion providers to continue work in this space.”
In Romsey and Southampton North, Caroline Nokes’s former seat, Fennie Yap is running as an independent, with a campaign fundraiser comparing abortion to genocide.
Alex Davies-Jones, who is seeking re-election as a Labour MP, is being challenged in Pontypridd, Wales, by Joseph Biddulph, a longstanding member of the Pro-Life Alliance. Other MPs seeking re-election whose seats are being targeted include Labour’s Zarah Sultana and Rosena Allin-Khan.
Some of the anti-abortion candidates are coordinated by the Vote Life campaign founded by Christian Hacking, a former public engagement officer at CBRUK and a prominent protester outside London abortion clinics. He is also running as an independent candidate in new constituency Eltham and Chislehurst. Hacking said it was “high time this genocide is made a voting issue”.
The Christian Peoples Alliance, a registered political party which includes among its aims “upholding the sanctity of life from conception until natural death”, also has 22 candidates running in constituencies in England.
Dr Jonathan Lord, co-chair of the British Society of Abortion Care Providers, said the candidacies were “sadly part of [a] trend”.
He said: “That said, given that the overwhelming majority of the public support abortion care, they will soon get a resounding message from voters as to what the public think of their extreme views.”
Last month a 25-year-old woman appeared in court in Gloucestershire accused of illegally ending a pregnancy six years earlier as a teenager. Heidi Stewart, chief executive of BPAS, said it was “for people like this young woman that we need decriminalisation as a matter of urgency”.
She said that BPAS would continue its work towards decriminalisation after the election.
“As police prosecutions and investigations into illegal abortion reach record highs, our hopes are not dashed, they are delayed. It is never in the public interest to investigate and prosecute women for illegal abortions.
“Come the new parliament, we will be picking up where we left off and progressing the decriminalisation of abortion for women as soon as possible
Abortion law was devolved to the Scottish parliament in 2016. No amendments have been made to the Abortion Act since, but MSPs last week passed a law creating safe access zones around facilities providing abortions in Scotland.
Abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 2019, though barriers to access remain.
Ikamara Larasi, co-lead for the Abortion is Healthcare campaign from activist group Level Up, said it was “disappointing” that the parliamentary vote was not going ahead and that the group would continue to back calls for decriminalisation.
“I’m confident with all the work that’s gone into this that we will see it happen. The law is not the only thing needed in terms of reproductive justice, but it’s a really significant part of the puzzle,” she said.
• This article was amended on 16 June 2024 to correctly refer to Christian Hacking as a former public engagement officer at CBRUK. It was further amended on 17 June 2024 to reflect a response from CBRUK stating that no charges had been brought in relation to the complaint made by Stella Creasy about anti-abortion protests in her constituency.
