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Elaine McCallig
Feb 04, 2022
France to offer free contraception benefits to women under 26
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Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has been accused of spreading a "harmful clinical falsehood" about the morning after pill.
Commons leader Rees-Mogg described the emergency contraceptive as an “abortifacient”, a term describing drugs that induce abortion.
But his remarks were criticised as a “harmful clinical falsehood”, with an MP calling for Mr Rees-Mogg to correct the record.
It follows Boots cutting the price of the morning after pill from £15.99 to £10.99.
Yesterday, the North East Somerset MP was asked for a debate on “proper funding and accessibility for women’s contraception and health services”, after Labour MP Dame Diana Johnson highlighted the “sexist surcharge” of high prices some pharmacies charge for the morning after pill.
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Rees-Mogg, a practising Catholic, replied: “The right honourable lady cannot expect me to speak in favour of abortifacients.”
Rees-Mogg has made his views on abortion very clear in the past. In 2017, he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that he was “completely opposed” to abortion, even in cases of rape or incest.
But the morning after pill is considered to be a contraceptive medicine because it prevents conception, rather than a method of aborting a pregnancy.
People took to Twitter to express their disappointment in the Commons leader:
tell me you had bad sex education without telling me you had bad sex educationhttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/02/03/jacob-rees-mogg-compares-morning-pill-abortion-boots-cuts-price/\u00a0\u2026— SophiA Smith Galer (@SophiA Smith Galer) 1643971404
*big sigh* the morning after pill does not remove a pregnancy, it blocks the release of an egg. The fact this man is allowed to legislate women\u2019s bodies when he peddles such dangerous and damaging falsehoods is horrifyinghttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/02/03/jacob-rees-mogg-compares-morning-pill-abortion-boots-cuts-price/\u00a0\u2026— Agnes (@Agnes) 1643970004
Very poor form from @Jacob_Rees_Mogg calling the morning after pill an abortifacient in the chamber this morning. An obtuse and factually incorrect statement.— Molly Boydon (@Molly Boydon) 1643893983
This matters. Jacob Rees-Mogg is entitled to his view. He talks often of being Catholic: the Catholic Church prohibits birth control. He can oppose the morning after pill on those grounds.\n\nBut it's medically wrong to call it an "abortifacient". And I think he probably knows thathttps://twitter.com/rhiannonlucyc/status/1489256754076479493\u00a0\u2026— Rachel Cunliffe (@Rachel Cunliffe) 1643902781
But it is absolutely nothing like an abortion. The morning after pill stops ovulation, meaning an egg isn\u2019t there to be fertilised by sperm. It just temporarily stops a process, it doesn\u2019t remove anything. \n\nThis man has power to legislate on uteruses.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/02/03/jacob-rees-mogg-compares-morning-pill-abortion-boots-cuts-price/\u00a0\u2026— Bethany Dawson (@Bethany Dawson) 1643971237
Give me strength. Like many anti-choice politicians, he is proving he knows very little about women\u2019s bodies or how they work, so why should he be allowed to legislate them?https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jacob-rees-mogg-morning-after-pills-abortion-b2006978.html\u00a0\u2026— Rhiannon L Cosslett (@Rhiannon L Cosslett) 1643901453
Following his comment, Dame Diana asked for him to correct the record on his claims.
She told MPs: “The World Health Organisation say that emergency contraception pills prevent pregnancy by prevention or delaying of ovulation and they do not induce an abortion.
“Emergency contraception cannot interrupt an established pregnancy or harm a developing embryo.
“How can I ensure that the Leader of the House corrects the record, as what he said I think is a harmful clinical falsehood and I am sure does not represent the Government’s policy?”
Deputy speaker Dame Eleanor Laing acknowledged that there is a “factual inaccuracy” in Rees-Mogg’s claim, and added that “the facts ought to be straight”.
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