Fury as Nadine Dorries calls for abortion time limit to be reduced in UK

Nadine Dorries has barely had time to get over Boris Johnson’s resignation but she has found time to wade into the UK’s abortion policy.

She wants the time limit on abortions to be reduced by four weeks, and her comments have provoked fury among health care professionals and beyond.

Dorries argued the legal cut-off point for pregnancy terminations in the UK – which is 24 weeks – should be reduced by a month.

Abortions are still deemed a criminal act in England, Scotland and Wales under the 1967 Abortion Act.

Responding to Ms Dorries’ comments, Katherine O’Brien, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the UK’s leading abortion provider, told The Independent : “It was absolutely extraordinary at a moment of huge political crisis, a cabinet member had chosen this as an opportunity to attack abortion rights.

“When the government collapses around her, she decides to attack abortion rights. It is also extraordinary as just last week Dominic Rabb said abortion was a settled issue in this country, yet government members in the highest offices are looking to restrict abortion.”

US

It comes as in the US the attempts to protect abortion rights come as tighter restrictions and bans are going into effect in conservative states after last month’s Dobbs v Jackson ruling in the US Supreme Court, which overturned the nearly half-century-old holding from Roe v Wade that found that the right to abortion was protected by the US Constitution. The issue reverts to the states, many of which have taken steps to curtail or ban abortions.

Several states have put new restrictions in place since the Supreme Court ruling and more are pressing to do so. The Louisiana Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the attorney general’s request to allow immediate enforcement of laws against most abortions, saying it was declining to get involved “at this preliminary stage”.

Enforcement was blocked by another court last week. Louisiana attorney general Jeff Landry tweeted that Wednesday’s decision “is delaying the inevitable. Our Legislature fulfilled their constitutional duties, and now the Judiciary must. It is disappointing that time is not immediate”.