Clare Gray

@claregray.bsky.social

123 Followers 80 Following

SEND parent, chef, artist, Cambridge & South Cambridgeshire Green Party Comms Officer, pan 🏳️‍🌈

Dear Clare Thank you for contacting me about Amendment NC20 (formerly amendment 17) to the Crime and Policing Bill regarding abortion law reform. I share your concerns about the need to address the criminalisation of women under outdated abortion laws, and I appreciate the comprehensive approach that NC20 attempts to take in reforming this area of law. However, after careful consideration of both amendments tabled on this issue, and having reviewed detailed legal advice from abortion providers and legal experts, I have concluded that Amendment NC1 offers a safer path to achieving our shared goal of protecting vulnerable women. While NC20's ambition to create a human rights-based framework is admirable, the legal advice I have seen suggests it creates significant risks: It would largely render the 196/ Abortion Act obsolete, creating a regulatory vacuum It would transfer substantial power from Parliament to individual ministers through secondary legislation The human rights safeguards may prove difficult to enforce in practice It could inadvertently put existing abortion services and rights at risk Amendment NC1 achieves the urgent priority of protecting women from criminalisation while preserving the established legal framework that has protected abortion rights tor over 50 years. It represents a targeted, evidence-based reform with wide cross-party support.