A majority of MPs voted to decriminalise abortion in the open debate in Parliament this week. A majority of 242 passed an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which will ensure women who terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks or without approval from two doctors will no longer be criminalised.
As it stands the 1967 Abortion Act initially allowed abortions to take place up to 28 weeks in England and Wales. This was reduced to 24 weeks in 1990. Abortions after 24 weeks are allowed only if:
- the woman’s life is in danger
- there is a severe foetal abnormality
- the woman is at risk of grave physical and mental injury
An amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill tabled by Labour MP for Gower Tonia Antoniazzi would decriminalise the process without ‘changing anything about provision of abortion care.’ Because of the nature of the debate, MPs were given an open vote with 379 voting in favour of the amendment, with 137 against. 11 cabinet ministers voted in favour with none against, although Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has indicated she she opposed the change but was away for the vote; Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer did not vote as he was attending the G7 summit in Canada.
Hailed as the biggest change in abortion law for over 50 years Antoniazzi said it was vital to “take women out of the criminal justice system because they are vulnerable and need our help”.
“Just what public interest is this serving? This is not justice. It is cruelty and it has got to end. This is urgent. We know multiple women are still in a system awaiting a decision, accused of breaking this law. They cannot afford to wait. We have a once in a generation opportunity to put an end to this in a simple and secure manner.”
Sie Keir Starmer added
“My longstanding in-principle position is that women have the right to a safe and legal abortion.”
Concerns had been raised by those against the amendment abortion could be come “meaningless” and lead to a “slippery slope.” But placing the frequency of such cases in content, Labour MP Lizzi Collinge said abortion after 20 weeks makes up c.0.1% of all cases – “This is due to serious medical reasons — these are not women ending pregnancies because of convenience. A criminal sanction for that, and distressing, intrusive, disproportionate investigations, is not in the public interest.”
Six women have appeared in court in England in the past three years charged with illegally ending or attempting to end their own pregnancies. Over the past five years, more than 100 women are thought to have been investigated for suspected illegal abortions and before 2020 there had only been three prosecutions since legislation came in to regulate abortion in 1861 in England and Wales. Since the availability of abortion pills to be send to a woman at home up to ten weeks into a pregnancy recent cases have focused on those who have falsely claimed to be less than ten weeks pregnant and received the pills by post.
