MPs to vote on law change that would end prosecutions for women who end their own pregnancies

Women in England and Wales would no longer face criminal charges for ending their own pregnancies under legal changes to be voted on by MPs next week.

As reported by BBC News, the proposed amendment to the crime and policing bill would decriminalise abortion at any stage when carried out by a woman in relation to her own pregnancy.

MPs will have a free vote, meaning they will not be instructed how to vote by party whips.

The move follows a rise in police investigations and prosecutions of women suspected of ending pregnancies outside the legal framework. Six women have appeared in court over the past three years.

Abortion is still illegal under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, though the 1967 Abortion Act allows terminations up to 24 weeks where two doctors agree that continuing the pregnancy poses a risk to the woman’s physical or mental health.

Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment would remove criminal penalties for women while maintaining the current system for accessing abortion in clinical settings.

Procedures in hospitals or other healthcare environments would still require sign-off from two doctors, and time limits would continue to apply in these settings.

Antoniazzi said: “The police cannot be trusted with abortion law – nor can the CPS or the wider criminal justice system.

“My amendment to the crime and policing bill will give us the urgent change we need to protect women.”

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is backing the amendment, describing current abortion laws as “outdated and harmful”.

Its support follows the trial of Nicola Packer, 45, who was cleared by a jury after taking abortion medication at 26 weeks during the 2020 lockdown.

She told the court she did not realise how far along she was.

Antoniazzi’s proposal has cross-party support from 136 MPs, including from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, and some Conservatives.

It has also been endorsed by medical colleges, trade unions and charities.

A rival amendment by Labour MP Stella Creasy seeks to enshrine access to abortion as a legal right and to decriminalise the procedure up to 24 weeks.

It would also prevent women from being imprisoned for late-term abortions outside the framework of the 1967 Act. The proposal has the backing of 101 MPs.

Creasy said: “My amendment would simply bring the rest of the UK into line with Northern Ireland, where abortion was decriminalised in 2019.”

However, abortion care providers have raised concerns about the scale and speed of Creasy’s proposal.

Some say it would effectively repeal parts of the 1967 Act and could open the door to a broader debate on abortion rights.

Rachael Clarke, head of advocacy at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), said: “Although we truly believe that we need overwhelming and generational change for abortion law, Stella Creasy’s amendment is not the right way to do it.”

BPAS supports Antoniazzi’s more limited proposal instead.

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children opposes both amendments, calling them “the greatest threat to unborn children and their mothers since the Abortion Act”.

The group warned the changes could allow abortion “up to birth”.

MPs will be allowed a free vote. All major parties have confirmed they will not instruct MPs how to vote.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said: “It is important that women have access to safe and legal abortions on the NHS, and this now includes taking abortion pills at home.

“This is an extremely sensitive issue and we recognise there are strongly held views on all sides of the discussion.

“By longstanding convention, any change to the law in this area would be a matter of conscience for individual MPs rather than the government.”