CSR comment on two legislative decisions in the House of Commons
Council on Social Responsibility northern executive
With heavy hearts we lament two decisions carried in the House of Commons last week.
On Tuesday, an amendment was passed to the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill, which decriminalises late abortions. Antonia Antoniazzi, who brought the amendment, said that she was ‘comfortable with any woman ending a pregnancy at any time’.
On Friday, MPs voted to legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales.
This deeply divisive piece of legislation, brought as a Private Member’s Bill by Kim Leadbeater MP, was approved at third reading and now goes to the House of Lords.
The vote was relatively close in the end: 314 in favour and 291 against – a margin of just 23 and less than half the gap at Second Reading. Only one MP from Northern Ireland voted in favour.
Neither piece of legislation applies directly to Northern Ireland but the cultural and moral impact will be felt throughout the United Kingdom.
We raise our voice of concern along with many other religious and Christian groups. We call on our own people to prayer and loving action to protect the most vulnerable in our society, at both the beginning and the end of life – life that is the precious gift of God.
Rev Dr David Clements
Northern Executive Chair
Council on Social Responsibility of the Methodist Church in Ireland
· A statement on Assisted Dying Bill - November 2024 (Northern Exec)
· Abortion - 2018 statement on the Eighth Amendment Referendum
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