‘Reprehensible’ Tory MP says women have no ‘absolute right to bodily autonomy’ in abortion debate
Conservative MP Danny Kruger speaks at the House of Commons (Image: Twitter)
Tory MP Danny Kruger has said he doesn’t agree women have “an absolute right to bodily autonomy” during a debate on abortion.
The MP for Devizes in Wiltshire said on Tuesday (28 June) that he doesn’t agree that women’s autonomy is absolute “in the case of abortion” because of the “fact that another body is involved.”
The House of Commons erupted in angry calls telling the MP to sit down, who simply suggested “we can disagree” on the issue of women’s rights.
“I don’t understand why we are lecturing the United States on a judgement to return the power of decision over this political question to the state,” Kruger continued.
Several MPs have been critical in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark Roe V Wade ruling that made abortion a federal right in 1973.
Critics include prime minister Boris Johnson, who said the move was a “step backwards”.
The ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans across half of the US. As such, Kruger’s remarks have led to fierce criticism across parliament, including from MPs in his own party.
Telford Conservative MP Lucy Allen told Metro: “I accept Danny’s right to disagree, but he has no right to impose his views on others.”
Users on social media also lambasted the Wiltshire MP for his comments, saying that women’s autonomy is “not a proper topic for political debate.”
My body, @danny__kruger, the body of any woman, is not a ‘proper topic for political debate’. Your comments are utterly reprehensible, shameful and inexcusable. I am furious that you—an MP elected to represent all your constituents well—had the gall to say this in the Commons. https://t.co/uDfg1kMVJo
— Prof Tanja Bueltmann (@TanjaBueltmann) June 28, 2022
I come from a line of women who have , within marriages, drunk poison and hurled themselves downstairs because abortion wasn’t available to them. I’m somewhat triggered by MP @danny__kruger saying this is a ‘political decision’ and that he should have a say in our bodies.
— Shaparak Khorsandi ??? (@ShappiKhorsandi) June 28, 2022
In response to the comments, Labour MP Stella Creasy told the house that abortion is “fundamentally for many of us a human rights issue”.
“Currently in the UK, only women in Northern Ireland have their constitutional right to an abortion protected as a human right, but we can change that and that is what this place and this urgent question can do today.”
Creasy has said she will table an amendment to the forthcoming British Bill of Rights to ensure the right to abortion is codified.
Danny Kruger was one of the 61 Conservative MPs to vote against extending access to abortions in Northern Ireland in a vote on 22 June.
