LONDON, July 6, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — Two radical abortion measures in the U.K. were dropped last night, drawing cheers from pro-life groups and the Catholic bishops of England and Wales.
On Monday, MP Diana Johnson did not move forward with an amendment, NC55, that she proposed for a policing bill under consideration by parliament.
Johnson’s amendment would have repealed sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act, which govern abortion. Right to Life UK had warned that the move would “leave England and Wales with one of the most extreme abortion laws in the world.”
“There would be no abortion law regulating abortion up until birth,” if NC55 prevailed, the group said. “In other words: Abortion would be available on demand, for any reason, up until birth,” and “could be performed legally on any grounds, including sex-selection.” Right to Life UK also warned that the amendment would have gutted conscience protections for healthcare providers and removed safeguards for women.
Right to Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson hailed the failure of Johnson’s measure on Monday, calling it a “major victory for the unborn child and women facing unplanned pregnancies.”
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) also celebrated the demise of NC55. “Last night was one of celebration for pro-life supporters, as Diana Johnson’s extreme abortion amendment was not added to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.”
“No MP fully supported Ms Johnson’s proposal, and many pro-life MPs spoke out against it,” SPUC said. “The proposals are shocking: a viable human being could have his or her life ended up to the point of birth, with no one held accountable, and yet a day later similar actions against a child outside the womb would constitute murder,” MP Fiona Bruce said during debate of NC55.
SPUC noted that Bruce reported having “over 150 constituents email urging me to vote against new clause 55 — not one constituent has asked me to support it.” Another MP, Bob Blackman said that he “received more emails and calls about new clause 55 than I have about any other measure since I was elected to the House 11 years ago,” SPUC related.
Prior to debate on Monday, more than 800 medical professionals joined an open letter calling on Johnson to retract NC55. “Your proposal to allow abortion up to birth in this country would be to attack the heart of the medical profession: our core duty to protect life whenever and wherever possible,” the signers said. They highlighted a survey from 2017 that found that only 1% of British women support expanding late-term abortion.
Along with NC55, another radical pro-abortion amendment, NC42, died yesterday. Tabled to the policing bill by MP Rupa Huq, NC42 would have criminalized pro-life outreach in front of abortion clinics, introducing prison sentences for individuals attempting “to inform about abortion services.”
The amendment would apply to anyone who “seeks to influence” “any person’s decision to access, provide, or facilitate the provision” of an abortion within a 150-meter “buffer zone” of an abortion clinic, as well as anyone “persistently, continuously or repeatedly” occupying a so-called “buffer zone.”
Even expressing an opinion about abortion would have been banned under NC42, which proposed a jail term of six months for first offenses and two-year sentences for further violations. MP Huq had tried and failed to pass a similar policy through the House of Commons last year, Right to Life UK pointed out. Recent polling cited by the group noted that only around 21% of British adults favor national “buffer zone” censorship rules across the United Kingdom.
Like Johnson, Huq dropped her amendment amid broad backlash. “In the end, the Government Minister, Victoria Atkins, did not even mention the abortion amendments in her summing up, and they were not selected by the Speaker for separate votes, meaning they fell,” SPUC reported.
“Rupa Huq’s amendment would have punished offers of support to women outside abortion clinics in crisis situations and in need of help, despite the large number of accounts of women receiving such help in a timely and life-changing manner,” Catherine Robinson said.
In 2019, LifePetitions launched a similar petition on behalf of Jeff Younger (the father) and his son James, asking for support and for the Texas state authorities to intervene in a unbelievable case in which the Dallas courts keep flip-flopping over which parent has parental rights and, ultimately, whether or not James must be forced to live as a girl and suffer the trauma of so-called gender "transitioning," as his mom believes he is a girl.
Incredibly, we now seem to be back at square one.
Jeff Younger currently has a gag order put on him, which prohibits him to speak out in defense of his son. But, because he has recently decided to ignore that order, to save his son from irreversible surgery, this brave Dad now faces possible arrest.
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition which does two things: 1) Supports Jeff Younger (again, the Dad) in his fight to save his son, James, from so-called gender "transitioning;" and, 2) Calls on Texas' Attorney General to intervene in this case and quash the gag order against Mr. Younger.
CLICK HERE to WATCH the latest LifeSite interview with Jeff Younger. Hear about the latest developments with his son, as well as the real dangers of gender reassignment surgery and other “transititioning” methods.
Currently, even though he shares 50/50 parental rights to James, which has allowed him to stop the chemical castration of his son, Jeff’s ex-wife recently sued to have full parental rights and to "give her sole medical and psychological decision making."
Jeff is also being threatened with jail time from the gag order, which he believes was intentionally done to stop him from helping pass legislation in Texas to ban sex-change surgeries for minors.
Jeff says that the gag order "prohibits me from speaking on all manner of political topics. And I’m not even allowed to tell you in that gag order whether my son’s a boy or girl."
But Jeff is speaking out, no matter what, because of the real danger that his son is in if he undergoes "transition" surgery.
Indeed, so-called gender "transitions" present many unsafe effects, some desired, some undesired, though all dangerous for one's physical and mental health.
Puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones have not been proven safe. For example, the FDA has NOT approved Lupron and GnRH analogues for use in blocking puberty.
Risks associated with these pharmaceuticals include: low bone density, high blood pressure, weight gain, abnormal glucose tolerance, breast cancer, liver disease, thrombosis, and cardiovascular disease.
And, additional risks and potential harms include:
For Males: Stunting of penile and testicular growth, sexual dysfunction, prevention of spermatogenesis, and disruption of normal brain and bone development.
For Females: A menopause-like state, blockade of normal breast development, decreased blood flow to vagina and vulva, sexual dysfunction, thinning of vaginal epithelium, vaginal atrophy, prevention of menses/ovulation, and disruption of normal brain and bone development.
In other words, these medications can sterilize and cause medical harm to vulnerable, confused children.
And, the stunning part about this: studies show that 85% of gender confused children eventually become comfortable with the sex of their bodies.
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition which supports Jeff Younger, a Texas Dad, who is fighting to prevent his son, James, from being "turned into a girl." At the same time, we appeal to Texas State Attorney General, to intervene in this case and quash the gag order against Jeff.
Thank you!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'Save James: Father risks arrest to save 9-year-old son from forced gender-transition': https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/save-james-father-risks-arrest-to-save-9-year-old-son-from-forced-gender-transition
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE DANGERS OF PUSHING GENDER IDEOLOGY ON CHILDREN:
Many eminent psychiatrists are now speaking against the faulty notion that sex is fluid and a matter of choice. In particular, they are concerned about the welfare of children and young people in this regard.
Dr Paul McHugh, former psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins University, who has researched the occurrence of gender dysphoria for 40 years, has stated that the notion of gender fluidity "is doing much damage to families, adolescents, and children and should be confronted as an opinion without biological foundation wherever it emerges". [See more below.]
And, the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) is definite about the promotion of transgenderism as being harmful public policy:
"Human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait: 'XY' and 'XX' are genetic markers of health – not genetic markers of a disorder. The norm for human design is to be conceived, either male or female…Conditioning children into believing that a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse. Endorsing gender discordance as normal via public education and legal policies will confuse children and parents…” [Read more below.]
Here is what Dr Paul McHugh said on this topic: https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/johns-hopkins-psychiatrist-transgendered-men-dont-become-women-they-become
This is the ACP statement on Gender Ideology: http://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/gender-ideology-harms-children
About the medical risks associated with medical interventions to attempt to change the sex of the body: https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2020/01/59422/
About some of the unconscionable practices some medical professionals are engaged in:
U.K. Catholic bishops blasted both NC55 and NC42 on Tuesday and celebrated the fact that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill remains free of extreme pro-abortion add-ons. Bishop John Sherrington, Lead Bishop for Life Issues at the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said in a statement that he welcomed the failure of the amendments.
“I welcome the fact that the radical amendment (New Clause 55), which was well outside the scope of the bill, was withdrawn,” Bishop Sherrington said. “The abortion clinic censorship zone amendment (New Clause 42) was also helpfully withdrawn. We must stay vigilant to attempts to widen access to abortion by hijacking other bills.”
The bishops, Right to Life UK, and SPUC thanked the thousands of pro-lifers who lobbied their MPs to stop Johnson’s and Huq’s proposals.
“We hope that being defeated again will prove to Diana Johnson that there is no appetite for such extreme abortion legislation in this country,” SPUC campaigns director Antonia Tully said. “But if she or another pro-abortion MP do try to decriminalize abortion again we will be ready to take action to protect unborn babies and their mothers.”
RELATED
Abortions skyrocket in UK, parts of US amid abortion pill surge
Pro-life street activism in the UK is saving babies from abortion