Abortion, gender-based violence, transgender laws, and more – how will Liz Truss’ cabinet approach the issues of the day within family law?
Having been named as UK Prime Minister, Liz Truss has been tasked with dealing with numerous issues regarding family law. Therefore, it is worth looking at the team Truss has assembled in her cabinet to tackle these major issues.
Abortion
Concerns have been raised regarding the issue of abortion due to certain members of Truss’s cabinet records and views on the matter.
One such appointment is that of Thérèse Coffey, who has been named as the Health Secretary. Coffey has previously voted to remove access to at-home abortion care, extending abortion rights in Northern Ireland and voting against legalising same-sex marriages in 2013.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service called her record on abortion rights “deeply concerning”. Clare Murphy, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, stated:
“Anti-abortion protest activity is escalating, with women and clinic staff facing intimidation while seeking to access and provide an NHS-funded service.
Every week, women with complex medical conditions are forced to continue pregnancies against their will because of a lack of appointments within NHS hospital settings.
We need a health secretary who wants to improve access to a medical procedure that one in three women will need in their lifetime, not impose further restrictions.”
Kwasi Kwarteng, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the new secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, have also expressed voted against abortion rights.
Concerns of abortions rights grew after a multinational statement by the UK government committing to the rights of women and girls in July removed references to “sexual and reproductive health and rights” and “bodily autonomy”. These concerns have been shared by Labour MP, Stella Creasy, who stated:
“There’s every reason to believe this new administration will lead to abortion access being reduced because the new prime minister herself removed a commitment to protecting this from her own international activity.
It’s why we have to put the freedom of women in the UK to choose to have an abortion beyond interference just as the government has pledged to protect freedom of speech from interference too.”
However, when asked if abortion laws would be changed in June, Coffey claimed, “Abortion law isn’t going to change in this country”. Truss has also pledged that abortion access will be maintained across the UK.
Violence against women
Truss, having previously been Minister for Women and Equalities, has been tasked with dealing with the rising rates of domestic abuse against women. Figures released this year show 2.3 million people in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the last year and around 1 in 5 homicides are related to domestic abuse.
There has been a significant reduction in recent years to the UK’s budget for support services for women and girls. Truss has previously committed to providing more support for such services, and as previously mentioned, was Foreign Secretary when the UK government formed a multinational statement committing to the rights of women and girls in July.
Nadhim Zahawi has been named as the minister for equalities and women, so there has been no specific minister for women announced. This decision has been described by Caroline Nokes, the Conservative chair of the women and equalities select committee, as “disappointing”. She added:
“Liz Truss spoke a great deal about how she knew what a woman was during the course of the leadership campaign; we heard the word woman used an awful lot. So it’s disappointing that it then gets dropped from the job title.”
Ruth Davison, CEO of the charity Refuge, said violence against women and girls must be a priority for the new Prime Minister. She stated:
“Refuge looks forward to working with the new Prime Minister to address violence against women and girls. There are quick and easy things that can be done which could make a real difference. The first step is ensuring the Online Safety Bill returns to Parliament. This has the potential to address online misogyny and abuse.”
Truss has promised to introduce a National Domestic Abuse Register to aim at repeat offences by abusive men as well as attempting to address the long wait times for rape trials as a report earlier this year found victims were having to wait, on average, 706 days for their case to go to court.
In addition to this, previous Home Secretary Priti Patel launched a Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan in April which aimed to prioritise prevention, pursue perpetrators, and support victims.
Transgender laws
As equalities minister Truss excluded trans people from a planned ban on conversion therapy which seeks to change a person’s gender identity.
She also stated she aimed to “protect single sex spaces for our young women”, maintained single sex wards will not include transgender people, and has said she opposes under-18s making medical gender transitions. During the leadership contest she stated:
“I improved the process for gender recognition to make it simpler and kinder, but I was very clear… under-18s shouldn’t be able to make irreversible decisions about their own future.”
When asked whether trans women are women, Truss simply stated “no”.
Penny Mordaunt has been named Lord President of the Council, and Leader of the House of Commons by Truss and make many comments on the issue of trans rights. During the leadership contest she outlined her belief that the Gender Recognition Act should allow self-declaration meaning individuals should not have to go through a legal process to submit their gender.
Mordaunt also stated trans women should not compete with biological women in sporting contests, a belief echoed by the new Prime Minister. Similar to the Prime Minister, Mordaunt also acted as Minister for Women and Equalities.
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