A senior Conservative MP has asked Foreign Secretary Liz Truss to explain why the UK government appears to have made a “sudden backsliding on women’s rights” after commitments on abortion and sexual health rights were dropped from an official multinational statement on gender equality.
Caroline Noakes, who chairs the women and equalities committee, has written to Truss, who is also the women and equalities minister and Tory leadership contender, asking why key phrases relating to reproductive rights had been deleted.
More than 20 countries signed the initial statement, which resulted from a UK-hosted conference on freedom of religion and belief earlier this month. This version included a commitment to repeal laws that “allow harmful practices or restrict … women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights, bodily autonomy.”
But those phrases were removed from a later version of the international pact, which is now online and has been signed by eight countries, including the UK and Malta, where abortion is illegal. Malta was not one of the original signatories.
“One of the most important freedoms a woman can have is the right to control her own reproductive health. It is very unclear why the sections on sexual and reproductive health were withdrawn at such a late stage and apparently without consultation or discussion,” Noakes, MP for Romsey and Southampton North, said in a statement to the Guardian.
“All over the world the fallout from Roe v Wade has alarmed women and girls and I would think the UK would want to be at the forefront of protecting their rights.
“I have written to Liz Truss as Foreign Secretary and Minister for Women and Equality asking her to explain this sudden backsliding on women’s rights. Surely the religious freedoms that are upheld must also include the freedom to have an abortion?”
Fiona Bruce, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief at the International Ministerial Conference earlier this month. Photo: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Truss, who is embroiled in a bitter battle with former chancellor Rishi Sunak to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister, gave the opening speech at the international ministerial conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) held in London in early July. The Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Religious Freedom, Conservative MP Fiona Bruce, was heavily involved in the gathering. Bruce co-chairs the all-party parliamentary group of pro-life MPs.
Changes to the gender equality statement caused friction with a number of other countries. Denmark and Norway protested “substantial changes to the statement and the manner in which the changes were made” and Canada “is seeking clarification” about what happened.
Human rights and pro-choice groups expressed outrage, with more than 20 organizations writing to Truss to demand the government immediately reverse the deletions and explain why they were made.
On Wednesday, Andrew Copson, chief executive of Humanists UK, said: “We welcome Caroline’s call for the UK Government to provide a full and frank explanation of why these changes have been made – and for the original text to be restored. The government said these amendments were to resolve a “perceived ambiguity”, but support for women’s human right to freedom of belief and bodily autonomy was by no means ambiguous. On the contrary, they are values that should be unequivocally upheld, as they were in the original intergovernmental agreement.
The FCDO earlier said it had amended the statement “to address a perceived ambiguity in the wording,” without elaborating.
“The UK remains committed to protecting universal access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health rights and will continue to work with other countries to protect gender equality in international agreements,” he added.
FCDO has been approached for further comment.
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