Speaking in a TV interview this weekend, Conservative leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt reconfirmed his long-held view that the legal limit for abortion should be reduced from 24 to 12 weeks. He chose his words carefully, making it clear that this was not a policy promise but a personal view. Yet, equally carefully, he shied away from giving firm reassurances that there would be no vote on this were he to become Prime Minister.
The word he used most often when explaining his views on abortion was, ‘conscience’. Hunt believes that the legal framework around women’s most important reproductive freedom is a matter for his conscience and the consciences of 650 predominately white, predominately male individuals whose status means they are well-paid, well-fed and well-versed in how to wiggle out of difficult situations using their eloquence and privilege.
But conscience has nothing to do with abortion. It has nothing to do with the personal decision a person makes when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, a change of circumstance or the shock of foetal abnormality. There is no role for conscience in the series of too-complex legal constraints around a procedure that we know improves women’s health and lives - a procedure that sometimes saves their lives. Conscience is irrelevant.
Science has more of a role to play in the conversation around abortion than conscience. It was evidence on the safety of taking abortion drugs at home, and the negative impact of the ban on doing so, that provoked the country’s most eminent women’s health bodies to write to Hunt when he was Health Secretary to urge him, “to extend the same dignity that the Scottish and Welsh Governments have offered to women.” It’s telling that, with Hunt as Health Secretary, English women’s access to dignified, evidence-based care lagged behind their peers; a situation which was only rectified when Matt Hancock took over the job.
Reality is also an important consideration when discussing abortion. The reality is that nine out of ten abortions already take place before 12 weeks. Women who have later abortions do so for a range of difficult and compelling reasons. As aboriton charity bpas reminded their Twitter followers last night, after 12 weeks an abortion may be needed because of domestic abuse, a shocking change in personal circumstance, a diagnosis of a serious foetal abnormality at the 20 week scan or a pregnancy that has been masked by hormonal contraception. Women whose medical needs are more complex because of very high BMI or an underlying condition may simply have to wait past the 12 week point for their referral to come through.
But surely the most important to consider when talking about abortion is women and their humanity. One in three women have an abortion in their lifetimes and 95% don’t regret it. Women can and should be trusted to make good decisions based on their individual circumstances; circumstances which can alter dramatically from one year to the next. Allowing and facilitating them to do so is simply respecting their status as human beings. Jeremy Hunt’s comments demonstrate that, even after six years as Health Secretary at time of intense focus on women’s health and maternity service, he still believes that his conscience trumps our rights.
Hunt should be well aware of the importance of reproductive autonomy to individuals and the societies they live in. I have met him myself and explained how English law protects women’s reproductive autonomy. He has had the chance to meet and be influenced by others far more expert than me - the most respected healthcare practitioners, campaigners, lawyers and scientists. He has also met the very individuals his opinion could have a direct impact on and he has listened to how it feels to be ignored and trampled on at a vulnerable time in their lives.
Hunt has already had the chance to prove himself an ally to women. Though he presided over a dedicated team who made some positive policy advances for women during his time as Health Secretary, it is now clear that listening to and trusting women was never something he believed in.
At a time when women in Northern Ireland still have their human rights violated by draconian anti-abortion laws, when Northern Irish women’s access to abortions without charge in England has only been made possible despite Hunt’s refusal, when the spectre of the US peddling away from Roe v Wade at speed haunts all the reproductive justice activists I know, we cannot allow Hunt near the laws that keep our bodies safe. Hunt should not become Prime Minister. Our consciences cannot allow it.