New Tory MPs could tip Common abortions vote
By Ian Dunt Follow @IanDunt
The new intake of socially conservative Tory MPs could tip the vote against abortion next week, analysts believe.
An amendment to the health and social care bill tabled by Tory and Labour backbenchers Nadine Dorries and Frank Field would see counselling services for women considering abortions given to independent bodies.
Currently, charity-run services such as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and Marie Stopes offer counselling. Campaigners say they also profit from the abortions, creating a conflict of interest.
"It is a general principle that advice and services should be separate," Mr Field said.
"I have no evidence of that [biased advice]. But we had no evidence of mis-selling of pensions until people investigated."
With the new intake of young Conservative MPs at the 2010 general election, anti-abortion campaigners are far more confident of winning free votes in the Commons.
Their approach to the issue is largely shared by the party leadership. In 2008, Andrew Lansley, William Hague and Liam Fox and David Cameron voted to cut the legal limit for abortions by two weeks.
Combined with the subtle, incremental nature of the proposal, pro-choice campaigners are concerned the amendment could see the first step back from the current system for a generation.
The government tried to head off the amendment vote over the weekend with the offer of a consultation on the plans, but Ms Dorries, who is increasingly developing a reputation as a staunchly conservative figurehead in the American style, refused to back down.
"The amendments won't be withdrawn whatever the government says," she toldBBC Radio 4's The World At One programme.
"If they believe they are going to buy me off by making soothing noises and they are going to look at this and go into consultation – that isn't going to buy anybody off.
"This will go to parliament on September 6th. It will be debated."
Pro-choice campaigners are concerned that their opponents have adopted strategies based on those in the US, where a general ethical debate is swapped for step-by-step reform of service provision.
But Ms Dorries was keen to press that the campaign to reform counselling had no connection to anti-abortion groups, insisting only counsellors registered with the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapy could be considered acceptable.
"Counselling would be offered by someone who is totally independent and impartial," she said.
"I can assure you that if a Catholic group said they were going to set up and offer advice I would be as against them offering advice as I am the abortion advisor."
The head of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Clare Gerada, warned the change would set the system back 25 years.
"There is no agenda in abortion services, there is no pressure at all to encourage women to have an abortion," she told the Guardian.
"Why fix what's not broken? It's worked well for 25 years.
"I work [as a GP] in Lambeth. I've never heard of abuse in this system. Anything that puts a barrier between a woman to make a choice in timely manner must be a bad thing and will simply reverse the advances of the past 25 years."
Even with the consultation offer refused, the government still appears to be making efforts to sidestep a formal vote.
Mr Field said health minister Anne Milton told him the government will propose an amendment advising local authorities to consider the independence of abortion services' counselling advice. It is unclear whether that would be a mandatory.
