The Culture of Death wins yet again

Late last night, Britain’s House of Lords surrendered to the Culture of Death, advancing a bill that would decriminalize a woman’s action to cause an abortion right up to the moment of birth. The astoundingly radical abortion measure had been included in a far larger bill approved without much notice by the House of Commons a few months ago. The House of Lords has no such excuse, for the radical abortion language was right on the front burner—there for all to see. A few members attempted to amend the legislation by stripping the abortion proposals out of the bill, but late last night their efforts failed. The measure moves forward. The Culture of Death advances yet again.

Britain already had one of the most liberal abortion laws in the world, allowing women to seek abortions through 24 weeks of pregnancy, and even later under many circumstances. The new measure removes all criminal sanctions for any woman who seeks or self-administers an abortion at any point in the pregnancy, for any reason. It will result in abortion on demand that extends from the moment of fertilization all the way to the moment prior to birth.

Tellingly, the measure does not decriminalize a physician’s involvement in elective abortions after 24 weeks. Thus, under the new legislation a woman could abort her own child at the latest stage of pregnancy, by use of the abortion pill, for example. That is why so many people opposed the measure, for a woman could use a drug like Mifepristone to cause the death of a fully developed infant, but the baby’s dead body would remain in her womb and could not safely be expelled. Thus, in the name of a woman’s personal autonomy the British government would put the mother’s own life in danger. Make no mistake: The Culture of Death kills, and it kills both babies and their mothers.

Allison Pearson, columnist for The Telegraph, referred to the “sickening change in the abortion law” that the bill proposed, calling it legalized infanticide. Pearson referred to Britain’s already radical abortion laws, which she described as “shockingly out of step with the majority of European countries.”

She continued: “The only other country with our brutal disregard for the unborn child is China, where abortion is generally legal at any stage of pregnancy.” She pointed out that even China disallows abortion for reason of sex-selection, but Britain’s shocking new abortion would not. Sex-selection abortions would be of no legal consequence. Want a boy? Just abort the girl. A woman would be able to end her pregnancy at any point, for any reason, without legal consequence.

The debate yesterday in the House of Lords went on for hours, going late into London’s night. The votes finally came and the House of Lords went home, handing the Culture of Death yet another huge victory. Britain’s upper house would not even slow the legislation, abdicating its historic responsibility. The Lords Spiritual—Church of England bishops seated in the House of Lords—did register their support for the amendments, or at least for further study of the matter and the impact on women’s health.

The new archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, who had previously served as a registered nurse, did call for a delay in the approval of any abortion measure, but her argument before the House of Lords was not marked by moral passion and abortion itself was not revealed as a great moral evil.

Calum Miller, a medical doctor and medical ethicist in Britain, lamented openly that many in Britain’s medical establishment supported the bill. “The medical profession is fundamentally untrustworthy with these people at its head,” he argued. “They have no credibility whatsoever.”

Right to Life UK released a statement immediately after the vote stating that the legislation would “make it more likely that healthy babies are aborted at home for any reason, up to birth.” The group also asserted that the measure “would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, including sex-selective purposes, and at any point up to and including birth.” Note those words carefully—up to and including birth.

Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right to Life UK, said that the abortion up to birth measure “is one of the most extreme pieces of legislation ever to pass the House of Commons and the House of Lords.” She continued: “It is a travesty that such an enormous and terrible legislative change, which will directly endanger the lives of unborn babies well beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb, as well as the lives of their mothers, has been allowed to happen.”

Later, Ms. Robinson simply stated: “A civilized society does not permit abortion up to birth.” That is certainly true, but the sentence should actually be much shorter, like this: “A civilized society does not permit abortion.”

Last night’s vote in the House of Lords tells us that a dark new age is upon us. Hug your children and grandchildren tight, and, as you hug them, pray for the unborn.