UK MPs vote to decriminalise abortion amid concerns over prosecution of women; what does current law say?
British MPs on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, voted to decriminalise
abortion
in England and Wales after a lawmaker argued that it was cruel to prosecute women for ending a pregnancy. The House of Commons approved an amendment to a broader crime bill that would prevent women from being criminally punished under an antiquated law.
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi introduced one of the amendments. She said that the change was required because police have investigated more than 100 women for suspected illegal abortions over the past five years, including some who suffered natural miscarriages and stillbirths.
'This piece of legislation will only take women out of the criminal justice system because they are vulnerable and they need our help,' the Labour MP said. 'Just what public interest is this serving? This is not justice; it is cruelty, and it has got to end,' he added.
The amendment put forward by Antoniazzi passed with the support of 379 lawmakers, while 137 voted against it. The House of Commons will now need to pass the crime bill, which is expected, before it goes to the House of Lords, where it can be delayed but not blocked.
The amendment came following growing calls demanding change in the law as the number of women investigated, arrested or prosecuted has increased in recent years. The framework of access to an abortion, which includes the requirement for two doctors' signatures and the time limits at which terminations can be carried out, will remain the same, The Guardian reported. Doctors who act outside the law will still face the threat of prosecution.
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But women who terminate their pregnancy outside the rules, for instance, after the time limit or by buying pills online, will no longer face arrest or prison.
What does the current law say
According to the prevailing law, doctors can legally conduct abortions in England, Scotland and Wales up to 24 weeks and beyond that under special circumstances, such as when the life of the mother is in danger. Abortion in Northern Ireland was decriminalised in 2019.
The law saw changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Women were allowed to receive abortion pills through the mail and terminate their own pregnancies at home within the first 10 weeks. That has led to a handful of widely publicised cases in which women were prosecuted for illegally obtaining abortion pills and using them to end their own pregnancies after 24 weeks or more.
Anti-abortion groups, who were against the measures, argued that it would open the door to abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy.
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