Crime and Policing Bill

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 2nd February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Eaton (Con)]

I remind the noble Lord that there is already an issue in this country: BPAS suggests online that it is not illegal to have sex-selective abortions, so there is some dispute about that information.

[Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (LD)]

My Lords, I have my name to Amendment 461—

[Baroness Eaton (Con)]

I have not finished. That was an intervention. Sorry; I have nearly finished.

[Baroness Eaton (Con)]

Yes, sorry, it is. I will just read the last paragraph. It is the interventions that have taken time.

Some of these examples may sound fanciful or seem extreme, but the worst consequences of a policy rarely announce themselves plainly at first sight; otherwise, we would always pass perfect laws, and we do not. We would be foolish not to learn from evidence in other jurisdictions. I contend that it would be far wiser to reject Clause 191 altogether. Doing so would protect women—both baby girls in the womb and the mothers who carry them.

[Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (LD)]

My Lords, I added my name to Amendment 461J, to which the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, spoke so eloquently. It addresses the pardoning of women who have already been criminalised. When Clause 191 becomes law, I look forward to this amendment being part of it because, as your Lordships all know, having a criminal record precludes you from some jobs and from getting visas to some countries. It is a very serious thing, and this small amendment is well worth while.

The overwhelming support from the professional bodies must weigh heavily on your Lordships, even those who are doubtful about Clause 191. I am grateful to those in the Committee who have experience in this field. It struck me that if the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Royal College of General Practitioners are all behind, who are we to raise many of these issues? That is not to say we should not debate the important points. However, where those involved in delivering healthcare for women are so overwhelmingly supportive, this seems to me to be the right course.

The noble Lord, Lord Bailey of Paddington, asked about surveys. Well, I have one from YouGov that cites 70% of the public as saying that women should not face criminal prosecutions for having abortions outside the set rules.

The noble Baroness, Lady Monckton, made the comment: what is the role of this House? Well, the role of this House, which I am glad to say it is undertaking very well this evening, is, as we know, not to overturn the will of the Commons, where the vote was 379 to 137.

There are many amendments in this first group that seem innocuous. We debated some of them a while ago—for example, the requirement to keep statistics—in the Bill by the noble Lord, Lord Moylan. But they are not innocuous; they are really just a back door into undermining the very idea of Clause 191.

My last point is about an issue addressed by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Lincoln. I have understood that decriminalisation does not encourage more, or later, abortion. In the countries that have practised it, such as Canada and New Zealand, it has not been the case that it has encouraged more or later abortion. Other noble Lords have eloquently made the point that abortion is not something that you, as a woman, just choose lightly. I have not had an abortion myself; I have had only a miscarriage, and I happily have two children besides, but that was enough to tell me that you would not lightly go and choose this. Getting rid of Clause 191 is an essential part of moving us into the 21st century and away from the very Victorian attitude that has prevailed until now.

[Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Con)]

My Lords, before I discuss the substance of the amendments in this group, including my Amendment 461F, I want to make a brief observation. In my experience, both in the other place and as a Member of your Lordships’ House for a little over three years, the issues we are considering today in this group of amendments and the two that follow have become increasingly difficult to discuss openly. By that, I mean that we seldom consider the merits of the arguments put forward in good faith and instead fall back on principled objections. I regret that abortion has become such a binary and closed-off debate in this country. One’s views on the subject are put into a box: compassionate or unfeeling; morally progressive or morally regressive; forward-looking or Victorian. I am sure that noble Lords will agree that this serves nobody well, whether in this place in facilitating constructive and reasoned debate, and thereby serving the watching public well or, perhaps more importantly, in promoting the safety and well-being of women and unborn children.

There are, I would hope, things that we can agree on. Statistics released by the Department of Health and Social Care on 15 January show the highest number of abortions ever recorded in England and Wales, with 278,740 taking place in 2023—a 10% increase on the previous year. When added to figures from Scotland and Northern Ireland, this amounts to nearly 300,000 abortions across the UK in 2023. Nearly one in three of all pregnancies ended in abortion in 2023.

International Women's Day

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer Excerpts

Thursday 3rd March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer]

My Lords, after hearing so many truly inspiring maiden speeches and many terrifically moving speeches, I want to look inwards a little into what this House, and the women in it, can do given the increased number of talented female Peers who have entered the House. It falls on our shoulders to ensure that no subjects debated in this House should be regarded as “boys’ subjects”. On 12 November last year, this House debated the defence and security review. That debate had a similar number of speakers to today’s debate—some 40—but less than a handful of women spoke. However, almost nothing will affect our sisters throughout the world more than our attitude to war and conflict. Not even our attitude to trade and aid is more influential than how we choose to deploy our military strength, or, indeed, whether we choose to develop or deploy it at all. That should be a burning issue for debate among us women as women throughout the world directly suffer the consequences of our action or lack of action.

I was extremely pleased to hear the noble Baroness, Lady King of Bow, say that we should not let everything remain the same and that things have changed far too slowly. I suggest that we have been far too slow to change our attitude to war and conflict. The arms trade treaty that was published in draft in February offers a tremendous opportunity to effect world change. I hope that the UK’s contribution to that treaty will continue to be as energetic as it should be. However, the draft contains no direct reference to the effect of arms and small arms, particularly on women. The noble Baroness, Lady Kinnock, spoke movingly about the effect of conflict on women in places such as the DRC. That treaty would be strengthened with that sort of reference.

Many of these problems can be solved by women themselves. They have the knowledge to do so, but the problem, as many speakers have said, is political representation—19 per cent representation across the world is not nearly good enough. No matter what approach we take to other issues, it will only ever be a sticking plaster to cover those problems until women themselves are in a position of power in their Governments to solve them.

I, too, commend the work of Lesley Abdela, who was mentioned by the noble Baronesses, Lady Gardner of Parkes and Lady Scott of Needham Market. Lesley Abdela has worked her whole life to improve women’s political position throughout the world. Even now, she is working on the Egyptian issue. She should certainly be in this House, but that would take her away from her front-line job; perhaps it is lucky for the women of the world that she is not here.

Lastly, I shall comment on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s mWomen initiative, which is putting mobile phone technology into the hands of women. An all-woman technology delegation has gone this very week to Liberia and Sierra Leone to promote putting technology into the hands of women to enable them to communicate better. It is a particularly useful initiative, because communication is the first step on the road to political power.