The British Pregnancy Advice Service (BPAS) has called the new British Health Secretary’s appointment ‘deeply concerning’ given her pro-life voting record. The comments came as Therese Coffey was elected as Britain’s new Deputy Prime Minister and Health Secretary following the election of new Prime Minister Liz Truss.
In a statement, the abortion provider expressed concern that “anti-abortion protest activity is escalating” across the UK, as it denounced Ms Coffey’s “personal convictions” on abortion.
Earlier this year, Ms Coffey, who is a Catholic, voted against making abortion pills by post permanent in the UK amid grave concerns from pro-life campaigners over the unsupervised use of the pills, which, in some cases, had been used to abort babies beyond the 24-week abortion limit.
Ms Coffey’s voting record on life issues is likely to give hope to those eager to see the building of a culture of life in the UK.
In 2011, one year after she was elected as an MP, she voted in favour of independent counselling for women considering abortion. In February 2015, as a member of Parliament, she voted in favour of an explicit ban on sex-selective abortion. In September 2015, she also voted against legalising assisted suicide. Also in 2015, Ms Coffey voted against allowing the creation of 3 parent embryos (mitochondrial donation).
In March 2017, the MP voted against decriminalisation, the introduction of abortion on demand for any reason up-to-birth, to England and Wales. And in October 2018, she voted against introducing abortion on demand up-to 24-weeks in Northern Ireland, and also against removing many of the current legal safeguards around abortion provision in England and Wales.
Ms Coffey also voted against an October 2018 amendment to put pressure on the Government to change abortion legislation in Northern Ireland, and in July 2019, she voted against an amendment to impose law change on Northern Ireland to introduce abortion.
In June 2020, she voted no to a motion to approve regulations to impose abortion legislation on Northern Ireland – including introducing abortion up to birth for Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and club foot.
In June 2020, she abstained on a motion to approve regulations to give the Northern Ireland secretary of state further powers to impose the commissioning of abortion services on Northern Ireland. She also abstained on a June 2020 motion to introduce censorship zones around abortion centres that make it a criminal offence to offer support or pray.
More recently, in March 2022, she voted against an amendment to make abortion pills by post permanently available in England.
In a statement, Clare Murphy, Chief Executive of BPAS said that “to have a Health Secretary who would place their personal beliefs above expert clinical guidance is deeply concerning”.
The Chief Executive of Britain’s biggest abortion provider pointed to the overturning of Roe v Wade in her statement, adding: “In the wake of Roe V Wade, and at a time when women in many countries are still struggling to achieve abortion rights, we need the UK to be a beacon for women’s reproductive choice”.
She also claimed that a Health Secretary was needed who “wanted to improve” access to abortion. Her comments come as Department of Health statistics released this summer showed that last year recorded the highest ever number of abortions in England and Wales, with 214,256 abortions carried out in one year alone, a development deemed ‘alarming’ and ‘devastating by pro-life campaigners.
Sharing the news of the appointment of a pro-life Health Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) said:
“The UK now has a pro-life Health Secretary. Health Secretary, Therese Coffey, opposes abortion and assisted suicide. Real healthcare does not kill humans, and our new Health Secretary recognises that”.
“Each day we are a step closer to our pro-life future”, the organisation added as it commended Coffey’s voting record on abortion and assisted suicide.
“A society where abortion is unthinkable is on its way,” it added.
It comes as a record 7,000 people attended the UK March for Life in central London on Saturday, the highest number to ever participate in a pro-life March in the UK.
While Coffey has been praised by pro-life organisations for her stance and voting record, Britain’s new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has expressed a sharply contrasting view on life issues.
The foreign secretary, who won the Conservative Party leadership contest and will now succeed Boris Johnson as the UK’s prime minister ahead of Rishi Sunak in second place, voted to decriminalise abortion in Northern Ireland in April 2021.
Since being elected as an MP in 2010, Ms Truss has either taken a pro-abortion position on votes or abstained; she has never adopted a pro-life position on a vote.
In 2011, she voted against introducing independent counselling for women considering abortion, and in 2016, she voted in favour of allowing the creation of three-parent embryos, also known as mitochondrial donation. She abstained on a vote to introduce assisted suicide and a number of votes on abortion including introducing a ban on sex-selective abortion.