"They will now commit themselves to ensuring its defeat so that women and babies receive the genuine care and support that they need."
In addition to forcing legal abortion on Northern Ireland, where local legislation prohibits it except as a life-saving measure for the mother, the proposed bill would establish some of the world's most permissive abortion laws throughout the United Kingdom.
The bill would make void the Abortion Act 1967, which established a 24-week limit on the procedure throughout Great Britain, and requires women to get approval from two doctors before undergoing an abortion.
According to Conservative MP Fiona Bruce, the proposed changes are "not only unconstitutional" but also "untimely" given the state of relations between England and Northern Ireland.
Speaking in debate over the bill, Bruce warned that its passage would "set a dangerous constitutional precedent of interference" that would "completely undermine the substance and spirit of the Good Friday Agreement."
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Bruce also raised the point that people living in Northern Ireland do not appear to want legal abortion. In 2016, a majority of people living in the province voted to keep their current abortion law. Recent polling by ComRes shows that about two thirds of Northern Irish women believed that it was up to Northern Ireland--and not MPs throughout the rest of the UK--to decide if, and when, abortion were to be made legal.
This number was even higher amongst people between the ages of 18 and 34, with 70 percent saying that the British parliament should not dictate abortion law in Northern Ireland.
Additional ComRes polling has suggested that many people in the UK are uncomfortable with the country's current abortion laws. A total of 70 percent of people surveyed were in favor of lowering the UK's current limit of 24 weeks, which is among the most permissive in Europe.