A dark day as Westminster backs abortion up to birth – find out how Scotland’s MPs voted
Last night, MPs voted by 379 votes to 137 in favour of an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that would change the law to make it legal for women to perform their own abortions up to birth.
The new law, which will now be considered by the House of Lords, would allow for the abortion of a healthy baby right up until the moment of birth and would include abortion for sex-selective purposes.
Whilst the law would only apply to England & Wales (the law relating to abortion is devolved in Scotland), it will undoubtedly influence similar moves to decriminalise abortion in Scotland.
Despite the law not directly applying to Scotland, many Scottish MPs still voted on the proposal. Thirty MPs voted in favour, whilst nine voted against. Seventeen Scottish MPs did not vote, including all nine SNP MPs who, as a matter of party policy, would not vote on laws which are not directly related to Scotland. We have listed all the Scottish MPs, below, and how they voted.
Please use the Write to Them online tool to contact your MP about their vote.
Responding to the vote, Bishop John Keenan, Bishop of Paisley, urged people “never to give up hoping that the dignity of all human life—from conception until natural death—will be upheld and defended on our shores”.
Bishop Keenan expressed his gratitude to all those who engaged with their MPs on the matter and to all who “struggle every day to defend the rights of the unborn in our society and across the world. May God reward your efforts.”
Anthony Horan, Director of the Catholic Parliamentary Office, said that the vote marked “a dark day for our country” and said that MPs were “wildly out of touch with the electorate”, after a poll revealed only 1% of the British public supported abortion up to birth.
Mr Horan quoted Pope John Paul II, who described the culture of death, including abortion and assisted suicide, as a “war of the powerful against the weak.”
He added: “This has never been better illustrated than by MPs in Westminster last night; hundreds of adults gathering to decide the fate of tiny, innocent, unborn babies.”
Voted in Favour of Abortion up to Birth
Katrina Murray (Labour – Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch)
Scott Arthur (Labour – Edinburgh South West)
Johanna Baxter (Labour – Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Maureen Burke (Labour – Glasgow North East)
Irene Campbell (Labour – North Ayrshire and Arran)
Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat – North East Fife)
Torcuil Crichton (Labour – Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
Graeme Downie (Labour – Dunfermline and Dollar)
Alan Gemmell (Labour – Central Ayrshire)
Tracy Gilbert (Labour – Edinburgh North and Leith)
John Grady (Labour – Glasgow East)
Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat – Edinburgh West)
Lillian Jones (Labour – Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Chris Kane (Labour – Stirling and Strathallan)
Brian Leishman (Labour – Alloa and Grangemouth)
Martin McCluskey (Labour – Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West)
Blair McDougall (Labour – East Renfrewshire)
Gordon McKee (Labour – Glasgow South)
Kirsty McNeill (Labour – Midlothian)
Chris Murray (Labour – Edinburgh East and Musselburgh)
Ian Murray (Labour – Edinburgh South) (Proxy vote cast by Chris Elmore)
Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat – Mid Dunbartonshire)
Gregor Poynton (Labour – Livingston)
Joani Reid (Labour – East Kilbride and Strathaven)
Martin Rhodes (Labour – Glasgow North)
Michael Shanks (Labour – Rutherglen)
Euan Stainbank (Labour – Falkirk)
Elaine Stewart (Labour – Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat – Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Melanie Ward (Labour – Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy)
Voted Against Abortion up to Birth
Andrew Bowie (Conservative – West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
John Cooper (Conservative – Dumfries and Galloway)
Harriet Cross (Conservative – Gordon and Buchan)
Patricia Ferguson (Labour – Glasgow West)
Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat – Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Douglas McAllister (Labour – West Dunbartonshire)
Frank McNally (Labour – Coatbridge and Bellshill)
Pamela Nash (Labour – Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke)
Imogen Walker (Labour – Hamilton and Clyde Valley)
No Vote Recorded
Zubir Ahmed (Labour – Glasgow South West)
Douglas Alexander (Labour – Lothian East)
Richard Baker (Labour – Glenrothes and Mid Fife)
Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party – Aberdeen North)
Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat – Orkney and Shetland)
Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party – Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Stephen Flynn (Scottish National Party – Aberdeen South)
Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party – Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Chris Law (Scottish National Party – Dundee Central)
Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party – Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Seamus Logan (Scottish National Party – Aberdeenshire North and Moray East)
David Mundell (Conservative – Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Brendan O’Hara (Scottish National Party – Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Kenneth Stevenson (Labour – Airdrie and Shotts)
Kirsteen Sullivan (Labour – Bathgate and Linlithgow)
Alison Taylor (Labour – Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Pete Wishart (Scottish National Party – Perth and Kinross-shire)
