Member

I too, therefore, support Amendment 456. In all the discussions today, noble Lords have shown that there have been remarkably few prosecutions of women for these offences. Nor has there been a big increase in prosecutions, especially of women recently. That suggests that the police and prosecutors are not taking cases to court unreasonably. The increase in police investigations, and indeed prosecutions, could be justified if the increased flexibility of the telemedicine scheme is being misused to procure illegal late abortions by even a small proportion of women using the service. It may be that removing telemedicine would be the most effective way of reducing the number of investigations. If there is a problem with inappropriate and unduly protracted investigations, as the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, and the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, have said, it is that process that should be addressed directly. By the way, the noble Baroness, Lady Fox of Buckley, is absolutely right to say that the process should not be the punishment. Investigations should be swift and as sensitive as they can be, and prosecution decisions should be taken promptly.