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MPs have voted in favour of reforming abortion legislation in England and Wales to stop women from being prosecuted for ending their pregnancy.
In a landmark move, the House of Commons voted by 379 to 137 to decriminalise abortion through an amendment to the government’s crime and policing bill.
The amendment tabled by backbench Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi would prevent women being investigated, arrested, prosecuted or imprisoned for terminating their own pregnancies.
The proposed change to the law would cover circumstances where an abortion happened 24 weeks or more into a woman’s pregnancy, as well as a procedure that took place without the agreement of medical professionals.
Abortion is currently illegal in England and Wales but permitted up to the first 24 weeks of a pregnancy. Terminations can be carried out after this time limit under certain circumstances, including if the woman’s life is in danger.
Antoniazzi called the law “outdated”, saying women who face a criminal investigation are often “acutely vulnerable victims” of domestic abuse, human trafficking and forced marriages.
It had received the backing of 176 MPs before the vote.
Violent partners and medical professionals who end a pregnancy outside the existing law would still face criminal investigation and prosecution.
Antoniazzi argued that nearly 99 per cent of abortions happen before a pregnancy reaches 20 weeks, leaving only 1 per cent of women in “desperate circumstances” that required “compassion not criminalisation”.
“We know multiple women are still in a system awaiting a decision, accused of breaking this law. They cannot afford to wait,” Antoniazzi told the House of Commons.
The Labour MP said “the public overwhelmingly support this change” with every abortion provider in England and Wales and groups campaigning to end violence against women and girls endorsing it.
Labour MP Stella Creasy had proposed a rival amendment that would enshrine abortion access as a human right, removing abortion from the criminal law system and protecting clinicians as well as pregnant women. This amendment was not voted on.
It was not backed by the British Medical Association or the UK’s main abortion provider, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service — who both supported Antoniazzi’s amendment.
Conservative MP Dr Caroline Johnson tabled a separate amendment that would require a pregnant woman to have an in-person consultation before being prescribed a pill for the termination of a pregnancy. MPs rejected this by 379 votes to 117.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said it was “horrified” by the outcome of the vote, arguing that the change was made after “only a few hours of debate”.
SPUC’s public policy manager Alithea Williams said: “If this clause becomes law, a woman who aborts her baby at any point in pregnancy, even moments before birth, would not be committing a criminal offence.”
For the abortion decriminalisation measure to become law, the amendment needs to pass through both the Commons and House of Lords.
