Two pro-life Private Members’ Bills have been selected in the House of Lords ballot for this parliamentary session — while no bills seeking to expand abortion access or legalize assisted suicide secured places.
Lord Moylan’s Complications from Abortions (Annual Report) Bill will receive its First Reading on June 9. Baroness O’Loan’s Infant (Born Alive) Protection Bill will receive its First Reading on June 11.
Lord Moylan’s bill follows a 2023 government review by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, which found official abortion complication figures dramatically understate the true rate. While providers reported a complication rate of 1.52 per 1,000 abortions, hospital data showed a rate of 4.06 per 1,000 — more than 2.6 times higher. When incomplete abortions were included, the rate climbed to 18.16 per 1,000 — nearly 12 times the official figure. Among women under 20, hospital data showed complication rates more than four times higher than reported. A Freedom of Information request by SPUC revealed that one in 17 at-home abortions results in an ambulance callout.
Baroness O’Loan’s bill addresses the legal protections afforded to babies born alive following attempted abortions — an issue made more urgent after the Crime and Policing Act 2026 removed criminal penalties for women performing their own abortions at any gestational age. In Australia’s Victoria state, 33 babies were born alive after late-term abortions following liberalization. In Queensland, 204 were born alive between 2005 and 2015. A 2008 UK report found 66 babies born alive after NHS abortions in a single year, many surviving for over an hour.
SPUC CEO John Deighan stated: “It’s a joy to see Lord Moylan and Baroness O’Loan standing up for the unborn. These Bills would not be necessary, however, if it were not for the dreadful pills-by-post scheme pushed by the careless pro-abortion ideologues in parliament.”
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