UK under international pressure over deletion of abortion commitments

Fiona Bruce, Tory MP and co-chair of the all-party ‘pro-life’ group of MPs, at the conference on freedom of religion and belief, London, 6 July 2022. Photograph: Courtesy of Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

The UK government is coming under growing pressure from European countries and human rights groups to explain why commitments to abortion and sexual health rights have been removed from an official statement on gender equality.

Norway and Denmark have approached the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) “to protest against the substantive changes” that were made to a paper that resulted from a UK-hosted conference on freedom of religion and belief, opened by Liz Truss earlier this month, the Guardian has learned.