MP Slams Prime Minister Cameron Ahead of Abortion Debate

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 5, 2011   |   4:38PM   |   London, England

As members of the Parliament prepare for a debate on Wednesday over taking the abortion counseling provisions away from the abortion businesses that profit from selling women abortions, MP Nadine Dorries is slamming her own party’s leader.

Dorries says Prime Minister David Cameron is “gutless” for saying the British government and establishment Conservative Party MPs would not support her amendment to have the health department conduct pre-abortion counseling rather than sending women to abortion agencies like BPAS and Marie Stopes, that merely sell women abortions. Cameron’s decision reportedly came after lobbying from Troy MP Nick Clegg.

“He is strongly pro-choice, a male feminist, but sensible and doesn’t want to see women abused. I just wish he had the guts to say outright it was Clegg who forced him to U-turn,” Dorries said.

“I had been to see the PM before I tabled the amendment and explained what it was about,” Dorries told the Daily Mail. “It was he who insisted the word ‘independent’ was inserted into the amendment and I left the meeting feeling supported and encouraged.”

“I was told by a Cabinet minister that the PM dropped it to save coalition stability,” she said.

Instead of Dorries’ amendment shifting abortion counseling to independent agencies that don’t sell abortions, Cameron would rather see the government set up guidelines for such counseling but not shift the counseling away from the abortion businesses.

In advance of the vote, Christian Concern, which supports the amendment, encouraged pro-life Britons to contact MPs in favor of it.

With “24 hours to go – please phone your MP and urge them to support the amendment,” the organization said in an email to LifeNews. “The amendment has been laid by Nadine Dorries MP and Rt Hon. Frank Field MP to ensure that a woman considering an abortion is offered independent counseling from a provider who has no vested financial interest in the outcome of their decision.

“Telephone 020 7219 3000 give the name of your MP,” it said. “It is common for constituents to do this and you don’t need to speak for long or have lots of information. In fact, a brief message such as the following would be fine.”

Meanwhile, the pro-life group SPUC, which is not endorsing the amendment, reports that another competing amendment is of significant concern.

“Also, in response to the government’s rejection late last week of the Dorries-Field amendment, Louise Mensch, a Conservative party MP, has tabled her own amendment on abortion counseling,” the group noted. “The Mensch amendment raises even more serious concerns than the Dorries-Field amendment.”

Members of the British Parliament are looking at a plan to require that all women in England considering an abortion undergo pre-abortion counseling — a move they say could stop as many as 60,000 abortions annually.

Abortion counseling is currently only offered by abortion businesses, which have a financial incentive to ensure they do not talk women out of having an abortion by emphasizing the numerous alternatives available to them or offering any non-abortion pregnancy assistance. However, the proposed legal changes would have abortion businesses following laws similar to those in the United States that require them to mention other options. Such laws have proven to reduce abortions.

“Abortion has become a factory-efficient process that denies women the right to independent, professional counseling,” Dorries told the London Daily Mail. “Many women who are given the opportunity to talk through their situation in a calm environment cease to panic and begin to consider other options. It is every woman’s right to be given the choice of access to professional help at the time of a crisis pregnancy.”

Labour MP Frank Field is also supporting the change, and he told the newspaper, “I’m anxious that taxpayers’ money is used so that people can have a choice – we are paying for independent counseling and that’s what should be provided.”

The London-based Marie Stopes International abortion business did more than 100,000 abortions in the United Kingdom last year and received £60 million through the government’s NHS health care program to do so. As a result, it has significant financial interest to not see a drastic drop in the number of abortions. Another 80,000 are carried out annually in England by other abortion businesses.

In a new investigation by a newspaper, an undercover probe of the counseling afforded by abortion providers and crisis pregnancy centers reveals the powerful impact of pre-abortion counseling.