Crime and Policing Bill

Baroness Hollins Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Lords Chamber

Although I have been assured that abortion providers will remain subject to the criminal law if Clause 208 is passed, it is hard to see how this will make a meaningful difference in the case of early medical abortion, since providers who carry out telephone assessments will have met the standard of due diligence required of them. My amendment offers a reminder that the needs of children and young people should be paramount in our thinking and in that of all who work with them, including abortion providers. My amendment asks for one proportionate safeguard: that when a child is the patient, a medical professional meets her before prescribing. I invite noble Lords to consider whether that is really too much to ask.

[Baroness Hollins (CB)]

My Lords, I had prepared a longer speech but I will speak very briefly as most of the points that I wanted to make have been made. Of course, I do not want to see women unduly prosecuted, but I was reassured by the wise remarks in Committee of my noble friend Lord Hogan-Howe, suggesting that the adaptation of police protocols was more suitable than the change in the law proposed by Clause 208. I support Amendments 424 and 425, as indeed do many doctors, including some among the numbers mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Monckton, of obstetricians.

One point, perhaps, has not been raised, which concerns the mental health of women who may be isolated. I am concerned about the possibility that home use, in relative isolation, of a self-induced later abortion may increase the emotional intensity and mental health consequences for some women, particularly if she has limited support or medical complications, which are of course much more common in later abortion. Safeguard support and informed consent become much more critical as gestation advances and care shifts away from in-person supervision. I am not convinced by this clause; it just has not had the depth of thought and preparation required to really understand the complexity of what is being proposed. I ask Members to err on the side of caution and to support the amendments that I have spoken about.