How very strange?

[VelvetScrunchie]

People who abstained from voting to decriminalise abortion today:

• Wes Streeting (secretary of state for health)
• Bridget Phillipson (woman and equalities minister)
• Rosie Duffield (champion of women’s rights)

Seems a bit strange that these three top feminists, two of whom have direct responsibility for women’s health, would not bother to vote?

I wouldn't equate "abstaining" with "not bothering to vote".

Then what would you equate it with?

Maybe they think an issue as important as this one deserves to be debated properly and not as part of a tacked-on amendment to some other law.

They may have thought the issue was too complex for a yes/no vote. They may have wanted a different law change which was not on the table.

It's a really complex and controversial issue... I think it would have been better to have a proper public debate about it and maybe they do too.

The tacked-on amendment has effectively ended the criminalisation of abortion in E&W. It seems quite straightforward?

Not sure why you highlighted Streeting and Phillipson. It doesn’t look like any front benchers voted.

The vote was won comfortably, they may have had other engagements that they felt were more important, particularly the ministers.

They’ve all voted pro-choice in the past (buffer zones around clinics, at home pills, decriminalisation, things around abortion in Northern Ireland).

It's also possible to be a feminist and/or pro choice and be concerned about the balancing of rights as between women and viable unborn babies who would be fully protected if they had been born (and I know that providing an abortion in the former circumstances is still illegal). There is a touch of the pitchforks about the original post....

Velvet comes across as practically salivating at the prospect of tearing down the people listed. Now, that may not have been their intention, but it does read that way with the possibly faux-naïve question format.

Wes Streeting is a Christian and may have felt uncomfortable with complete decriminalisation. In fact, there are plenty of people who are not Christians who also feel uncomfortable with it, just as there are people who feel uncomfortable with the Assisted Dying bill. Allowing people to take a human life without impunity is no small thing.

My thought too @CassOle

You can be a feminist and have issues with the lack of debate around this subject.

Calling Wes Streeting a “top feminist” is interesting.

Yes, that’s how it came across to me.

“not bothering” is really only one (simplistic) potential reason for abstaining

I understand tbh. I also want abortion decriminalised but they need to do it properly. There are a lot of different aspects to consider. It's too serious an issue to just be tacked onto something else. We've seen on these boards how well meaning legislation can sometimes come back to bite women in the arse. Full debate, evidence and thoughtful legislation is the way to do it, not shoehorning it in.