Lords private members' bills
24 October 2016
The House of Lords will debate three private members' bills on Friday 21 October, covering membership of the House of Lords, disability equality in respect of abortions and the legal age for marriage or civil partnership.
House of Lords Bill (second reading)
The bill aims to reduce the number of peers who are members of the House of Lords to a specified maximum number, no greater than the number of members of the House of Commons.
Find out more about the House of Lords Bill.
The House of Lords Bill now moves to committee stage, the chance for line by line scrutiny in the Lords. A date for committee stage is yet to be scheduled.
Abortion (Disability Equality) Bill (second reading)
The bill seeks to amend section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967. Section 1 details the conditions under which a medical termination of a pregnancy can occur. The bill would remove one of these grounds, 'that there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped'.
Find out more about the Abortion (Disability Equality) Bill.
The Abortion (Disability Equality) Bill now moves to committee stage, the chance for line by line scrutiny in the Lords. A date for committee stage is yet to be scheduled.
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill (second reading)
The bill seeks to raise the minimum age of consent to marriage or civil partnership from 16 to 18, and create an offence of causing a person under the age of 18 to enter into a marriage or civil partnership.
Find out more about the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill.
The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill now moves to committee stage, the chance for line by line scrutiny in the Lords. A date for committee stage is yet to be scheduled.
The 2016-2017 session of Parliament ended on 27 April 2017 and this bill will make no further progress.