MPs set to vote on decriminalising abortion

MPs are expected to have a conscience vote on decriminalising abortion in the coming months.

Labour MPs Tonia Antoniazzi and Stella Creasy have each said they will put forward amendments to further liberalise abortion laws through the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently progressing through Parliament.

In Great Britain, abortion is currently permitted for most reasons up to 24 weeks, and up to birth if the unborn child is deemed to have a disability. Inducing a miscarriage outside of the exemptions remains a crime, punishable with up to life in prison.

Vulnerable women

Antoniazzi said: “Vulnerable women are being investigated and prosecuted under this cruel and outdated law, and I believe this must change as a matter of urgency.”

Creasy has made clear she not only wants to decriminalise abortion, but implement it as a human right: “Other countries have enshrined a human right to access abortion – doing that here and writing this right into law for the first time ever could help prevent any rollback in rights and provide a future for ensuring everyone can access a safe and legal abortion if they choose to do so.”

She continued that extra provisions were needed “in the light of growing evidence of anti-abortion activism around the country”.

Prosecutions are rare, with only three women known of being convicted for having an illegal abortion in the past 150 years up until 2022. In a recent case, a woman who knowingly took abortion pills well after the abortion limit was initially given a 28 month prison sentence, but this was later reduced to just 14 months.

Women’s safety

Tory MP Neil O’Brien warned that further liberalising abortion law “could drive more women to attempt late-term, at-home abortions well beyond our 24-week abortion time limit, needlessly putting their lives in danger.”

He called for MPs to instead “urgently reinstate face-to-face medical appointments before abortion pills are prescribed, to determine the gestation of the pregnancy and ensure that women seeking abortion are not being coerced into getting an abortion.”