On Tuesday, the British Parliament voted to decriminalize abortion in England and Wales, aiming to prevent an increasing number of women from facing police investigations for terminating pregnancies under laws established in the mid-19th century. While abortion has been legal in England and Wales for nearly 60 years, it is permitted only up to 24 weeks and requires the consent of two doctors. Women who choose to terminate a pregnancy after 24 weeks can be prosecuted under a Victorian-era law that imposes a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
In Britain, criminal convictions for violating this law are uncommon; however, prosecutions have risen since the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw a legal change permitting abortion pills to be taken at home for pregnancies up to 10 weeks. During a free parliamentary vote, where politicians were not required to adhere to party lines, lawmakers initially approved an amendment aimed at halting prosecutions of women who terminate pregnancies under any circumstances, with a vote of 379 to 137. Nevertheless, medical professionals who help women obtain abortions beyond the 24-week limit may still face legal action.
The proposal may still be modified or even rejected, as it is part of a larger bill currently progressing through the House of Commons and the unelected upper chamber of Parliament. Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who introduced the amendment, stated that the existing law has been used to investigate 100 women over the past five years, including some who experienced premature births or were coerced into abortions by abusive partners. “Each of these cases is a tragedy made possible by our outdated abortion law,” she told Parliament. “This is not justice; it is cruelty, and it must come to an end.”
The vote was part of a larger government criminal justice bill that, if fully enacted, would align the abortion laws in England and Wales with those of other Western nations, such as France, Canada, and Australia.
Some politicians expressed concerns that the proposed amendment was being hastily pushed through parliament and might lead to unintended consequences. Conservative MP Rebecca Paul cautioned, “If this becomes law, fully developed babies up to term could be aborted by a woman without any repercussions.”
The amendment seeks to repeal sections of a law enacted in 1861 by an all-male parliament, which criminalized the deliberate termination of a pregnancy and imposed a penalty of “penal servitude for life” on those who performed the procedure.
In 1967, a legal amendment allowed abortions under specific circumstances while maintaining the 19th-century criminal ban. According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which advocates for women's healthcare, only three women in Britain were convicted of illegal abortions between 1861 and 2022. However, since then, six women have faced charges, and one has been sentenced to prison. In May, Nicola Packer, a British woman, was acquitted after using prescribed abortion medication when she was approximately 26 weeks pregnant, exceeding the legal limit of 10 weeks for at-home use of such medication.
During her trial, which followed a four-year police investigation, the 45-year-old told jurors that she was unaware she had been pregnant for such an extended period.
