New UK health secretary faces pressure over abortion stance

Thérèse Coffey, a Catholic, has voted consistently for pro-life positions. LUKE COPPEN September 7, 2022 

Britain's new health secretary is facing pressure over her stance on abortion.

Thérèse Coffey, a practicing Catholic, was named the U.K.'s deputy prime minister and health secretary on Sept. 6 by incoming prime minister Liz Truss, the successor to Boris Johnson. Coffey, who has voted against measures to expand abortion, told Sky News on Sept. 7 that she was "a complete democrat." "It's not that I'm seeking to undo any aspects of abortion laws," she said.

She added that her priorities as health secretary would be "A, B, C, D – ambulances, backlogs, care, doctors, and dentists." The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), a major abortion provider, criticized Coffey for voting in March against an amendment to make at-home medical abortions permanently available in England…..…The U.K. permits abortion up 24 weeks for all unborn children but with no time limit if there is a "substantial risk" of disability or to the health and life of the mother.  A record number of abortions took place in England and Wales in 2021. The authorities recorded a total of 214,869, the highest figure since the passage of the 1967 Abortion Act.

According to the charity Right to Life UK, Coffey has voted for pro-life positions on 10 occasions since 2011, the year after she became the Conservative Member of Parliament for Suffolk Coastal.  She voted in favour of independent abortion counselling and an explicit ban on sex-selective abortion, and against moves to liberalize abortion laws in Northern Ireland.

In 2010, she was the primary sponsor of a motion in Parliament urging the government to "give its full backing to mental health assessments for women presenting for abortion" and "make available information on the possible mental health risks to women of an induced abortion."