Controversial Report Calls for Decriminalisation of Abortion Up to Birth in Scotland
A Scottish Government advisory group on abortion has recommended sweeping changes to abortion legislation, including allowing women to legally have abortions up to birth for any reason.
The advisory group has courted controversy since its establishment in 2024, after it was discovered that it was to be chaired by a former trustee of the UK’s largest abortion provider, BPAS, and not even one of its 13-strong membership was pro-life or represented a pro-life organisation.
Writing to the advisory group last year, the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland described the exclusion of prolife voices as “unjust and undemocratic” and suggested the group lacked both legitimacy and credibility as a result.
The bishops also reminded the advisory group of society’s “collective duty to uphold the most basic and fundamental human right to life” and to “ensure that both mother and child are accepted and loved by a caring, compassionate society”.
Despite this, the advisory group has pressed ahead with radical recommendations in its report to the Scottish Government which would effectively permit abortion up to birth for any reason and would see the removal of the current requirement for two doctors to sign off on abortions up to 24 weeks. Astonishingly, the report recommends that future legislation makes no reference to “sex-selective abortion”, paving the way for unborn babies to be aborted because they are the ‘wrong’ sex.
Responding to the publication of the report, CPO Director, Anthony Horan, said:
“We must never forget that, at the heart of this debate, is the innocent life of an unborn child and his or her mother who may be struggling to cope with her pregnancy.
“The Scottish Government should focus on what it can do to work with other public bodies and the third sector to provide vital help and support to these vulnerable women instead of following the extreme recommendations of a biased group that lacks both legitimacy and credibility.”
