The UK's new Prime Minister has appointed as Home Office Minister a woman who has repeatedly used her political office to campaign for abortion up to birth.
Dame Diana Johnson, the Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham, has led numerous attempts to introduce abortion on demand up to full term and to legalise sex-selective abortions (which usually predominantly impacts baby girls).
Most of her efforts came in the form of amendments to crime and justice bills which passed through the department to which Sir Keir Starmer has now appointed her.
Earlier this year, Ms Johnson tabled an <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/bishop-john-sherrington-alarmed-by-proposed-amendments-on-abortion/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill</mark></a> that would have removed prohibitions against a woman being able to perform her own abortion at any point right through to birth.
More than 750 medical professionals <mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/over-700-medical-professionals-back-biggest-change-to-abortion-law-in-a-generation/">signed an open letter calling on MPs to oppose the proposed change</a></mark> to the law.
Latest figures show abortions in England and Wales to be running at an all-time record high, with more than <a href="https://righttolife.org.uk/news/repeat-abortions-accounted-for-over-40-of-all-abortions-in-2022"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">a quarter of million performed in 2022</mark></a>.
In 2021, Ms Johnson also attempted to hijack the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill with an amendment that would have left England and Wales with one of the most extreme abortion laws in the world.
Her amendment, if successful, would have left no abortion law regulating abortion up until birth, thereby making abortion legal on demand, for any reason up until birth, including sex-selective abortion.
Again, this prompted more than 800 medical professionals to sign an open letter urging Ms Johnson to withdraw her amendment.
Catherine Robinson of Right to Life said: “Diana Johnson has a track record of leading attempts to introduce extreme abortion legislation during her time in Parliament. This has included failed attempts to introduce abortion up to birth and legalise sex-selective abortion.
“Her extreme views are radically out of step not only with the general public but in particular with Labour voters, the vast majority of whom do not want to see abortion being made legal up until birth.
“Polling shows that only one per cent of Labour voters support increasing the abortion time limit to above the current 24-week limit, whilst 60 per cent want to see the limit reduced to 20 weeks or below.
“The same polling also shows that 89 per cent of Labour voters oppose sex-selective abortion being legal.”
Robinson added: “We are calling on the Government to make it clear that they will reject any attempts to make extreme changes to abortion laws and assure voters across the country that Diana Johnson will not be allowed to use her new position as a Home Office Minister to introduce extreme changes to abortion legislation.”<br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/devastating-toll-to-self-esteem-that-pro-choice-sloganeers-rarely-discuss/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Devastating toll to self-esteem that pro-choice sloganeers rarely discuss</mark></a></strong>
Sir Keir has also drawn criticism for his decision to appoint Anneliese Dodds as the Women and Equalities Minister – even though she believes there are “different definitions legally around what a woman actually is”.
The author JK Rowling, former tennis champion Martina Navratilova and other feminist campaigners were among those to object to his decision because they fear Ms Dodds, the Labour MP for Oxford East, will make it easier for men to legally change their sex and intrude into female single-sex spaces such as lavatories, prisons and changing rooms.
Ms Dodds has said she is “committed to modernising the Gender Recognition Act” because she believes it is “intrusive, outdated and humiliating”.<br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/catholic-bishops-of-england-and-wales-in-absolute-harmony-with-vatican-against-gender-ideology/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Catholic Bishops of England and Wales in ‘absolute harmony’ with Vatican against gender ideology</mark></a></strong>
Sir Keir has announced that Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, would also have the title Minister for Women and Equalities because legally the office must be held by a Secretary of State.
Ms Phillipson has already indicated that she intends to sweep away guidance steering schools away from incorporating and promoting gender ideology.
She has been previously criticised after she refused eight times, during an interview with <em>LBC Radio</em>, to say whether a biological male should be able to use a women’s lavatory.<br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/exclusive-diocese-of-nottingham-bans-celebration-of-pride-month-in-catholic-schools/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Diocese bans celebration of ‘Pride month’ in Catholic schools</mark></a></strong>
Maya Forstater, the chief executive of Sex Matters, a women’s rights charity, told the <em>Daily Telegraph</em> that “the prominence of sex-based rights during the election campaign showed that most people think genuinely single-sex spaces are essential, and that the Government should move swiftly to fix the legal muddle that means service providers are frightened to provide them”.
Forstater added: "However Sir Keir decides to organise the women and equalities brief, we look forward to working with the incoming administration to ensure that the law works to guarantee women’s safety, dignity and privacy and to protect everyone’s human rights." <br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/its-right-to-congratulate-sir-keir-and-to-pray-he-works-with-the-churches-and-not-against-them/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">It’s time to congratulate Sir Keir – and to pray he works with the churches and not against them</mark></a></strong>
<em>Photo: Diana Johnson with her medal and insignia after she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), for 'charitable and political service', at an Investiture Ceremony at Windsor Castle, London, 7 December 2021. (Photo by STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images.)</em>
