Sadiq Khan has called for an urgent review of Transport for London’s decision to ban adverts on the London Underground campaigning for the decriminalisation of abortion.
It comes after London’s transport body blocked adverts by BPAS — the UK’s leading abortion service — which encourage people to lobby their MPs in support of legislative change.
TfL is understood to have banned the adverts on the grounds that they could bring City Hall and the police service into disrepute and were not in line with its advertising policy.
BPAS had placed 190 adverts across England and Wales, urging people to lobby their local MPs ahead of an anticipated parliamentary vote on whether to decriminalise abortion.
Adverts featured the anonymised stories of women who have been investigated by police and in some cases prosecuted for having an abortion. The adverts were approved by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “The Mayor has stepped in and we are now urgently looking into this issue so we can allow adverts from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service on London's transport network.”
BPAS accused TfL of “silencing the voices of women” by banning the adverts on the London Underground network.
A campaigner said: “It’s vital that these women’s voices are heard. MPs could vote to change our abortion law to protect women in just a couple of weeks.”
The decision came despite TfL previously allowing pro-choice campaign material on buses across London, sponsored by Doctors for Choice and Abortion Talk and featuring the slogan “abortion is healthcare, not a crime”.
Campaign material on assisted dying from Dignity in Dying was also approved to run on the network last year, including in Westminster.
At the time of the ban, a TfL spokesperson said: “We reviewed this advertising campaign against both our advertising policy and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code, and it was found to be compliant.”
Heidi Stewart, the chief executive of Bpas, said: “This campaign was launched in support of Tonia Antoniazzi MP’s amendment to the crime and policing bill, and we expect a vote in parliament in a matter of weeks. This is a pivotal moment for MPs to reform our abortion law and prevent more women from suffering the trauma and injustice of police investigations and the risk of criminalisation.”
A TfL spokesperson said: "Our advertising partner is discussing the matter with BPAS and we will update in due course.”
