UK MPs are preparing to vote on Tuesday on a significant reform to abortion laws in England and Wales, aiming to stop the prosecution of women who terminate their pregnancies.
At present, women can face criminal charges if they have an abortion after 24 weeks or without approval from two doctors, under laws that still technically carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The issue has attracted renewed attention following recent legal cases, including one where a woman was acquitted by a jury and another who was released on appeal.
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi has put forward a proposal to change the law so that no woman would be committing an offence by ending her own pregnancy at any stage.
“Women are currently being arrested — from hospital beds to police cells — and investigated on suspicion of terminating their own pregnancies,” Antoniazzi told AFP.
“My amendment would bring this to an end. It is the right amendment at the right time,” she added.
Abortion remains a criminal offence under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, a Victorian-era law that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The Abortion Act 1967 legalised terminations under certain conditions, allowing abortions up to 23 weeks and six days if performed by an authorised provider. After this, abortions are permitted only in limited cases such as risk to the mother’s life or serious foetal disability.
A temporary change during the Covid-19 pandemic permitted women to take abortion pills at home up to 10 weeks into pregnancy.
In May, Nicola Packer was acquitted after taking prescribed abortion medication at around 26 weeks, beyond the legal limit for home use. During her trial — following a four-year police investigation — she told jurors she was unaware she was so far along.
“It was horrendous giving evidence, absolutely awful,” she told The Guardian.
However, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children has condemned the proposed amendment as “the greatest threat to unborn babies in decades.”
Antoniazzi’s proposal would not alter the rules around abortion services themselves, including gestational limits. Those assisting women in obtaining unlawful abortions, such as medical practitioners, would still face prosecution.
Around 50 organisations, including abortion providers, medical bodies, and women’s rights groups, support the amendment. They note that six women have been charged in the past three years in England for ending or attempting to end their own pregnancies outside the law.
One case saw Carla Foster jailed in 2023 for obtaining abortion pills illegally to terminate a pregnancy between 32 and 34 weeks; the Court of Appeal later suspended her sentence.
Approximately 140 MPs in the 650-seat parliament have publicly backed the reform. Antoniazzi said it “has widespread support across the political spectrum” and she is “optimistic the Commons will back it.”
The vote will be a free one, allowing MPs to decide according to their conscience rather than party lines.
While Northern Ireland decriminalised abortion in 2019, Scotland is currently reviewing its abortion legislation.
