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Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2025 23:51:46 +0100 From: Eleanor Clifford To: Daniel Zeichner MP Subject: Please support amendment NC20 to put reproductive rights into law Dear Daniel Zeichner, I am writing to ask that you support amendment NC20 to the Crime and Policing Bill, proposed by Stella Creasy MP. In an age when ever more people's bodily autonomy is under threat, now is the time to ensure that our law is as robust as possible to protect the right to choose. We simply cannot rely on the stability of the current situation: decriminalisation must be enshrined in law. NC20 will make abortion a human right, protect buffer zones, and ensure access to telemedicine. It will also stop ministers from changing abortion law without democratic consent. You may also be considering signing amendment NC1. It is possible to sign both amendments, but I understand Stella Creasy MP has emailed a briefing to all MPs to better understand the differences between the amendments. I encourage you to read this document, which has been written in partnership with expert legal teams. As I see it, NC20 is significantly more comprehensive, and NC1's phrasing of "no offence is committed by a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy" is immediately problematic – what about a trans man or non binary person terminating a pregancy? In order to cover this, the amendment must use, and thus lend credibility to, a definition of "woman" which itself does significant harm (as I know you are aware of in regard to the recent Supreme Court decision). Reproductive rights are under serious threat around the world – from Nigel Farage's rhetoric here in the UK to attacks from the Christian right in the US – but we have a rare chance to make positive change in the UK. Those who seek abortion care deserve safety and support – not criminalisation. Please protect the right to choose and bodily autonomy. Abortion is healthcare and should be a human right. Yours sincerely, Eleanor

Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2025 08:16:22 +0000 (UTC) From: Daniel Zeichner MP To: Eleanor Clifford Subject: Abortion

Dear Eleanor,

Thank you for contacting me about this deeply important issue.

I support the right to choose. At the same time, I respect there are strongly held views on abortion. I think it is right that votes on this matter are treated as issues of conscience for all MPs.

At present, the Abortion Act 1967 permits abortions to be carried out in England and Wales, under certain circumstances, up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. Otherwise, under a Victorian piece of legislation, the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (OAPA), it is illegal to provide an abortion and a woman ending her own pregnancy is liable to life imprisonment. I understand you would like to see the law changed in this area.

As you point out, new clauses have been tabled to the Crime and Policing Bill which would decriminalise abortion. Should one or more of these clauses be selected by the Speaker, there will be the chance for a full debate on this issue. I can assure you that I am giving this matter the careful consideration it deserves. I will certainly bear in mind the points that you make if there is the opportunity to vote on these new clauses. Like you, I do not want to see vulnerable women serving prison sentences or being prosecuted when it is not in the public interest to do so.

If the will of Parliament is that the law in England and Wales should change, the Government has confirmed that it will ensure that this happens.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this issue.

Yours sincerely,
Daniel Zeichner