Abortion laws in England and Wales face biggest shake-up in nearly 60 years

The Guardian

6 hours ago

Parliament is set to vote on whether to decriminalise abortion on Tuesday, in what would be the biggest shake-up to reproductive rights in England and Wales in almost 60 years.
Fierce battles have been fought behind the scenes, with Labour backbenchers Tonia Antoniazzi and Stella Creasy lobbying in a bid to have their rival amendments taken forward for a vote.
It is understood only one will be voted on, and with Antoniazzi's being the lead amendment on the order paper, it is more than likely that hers will be selected.
The amendments, which are due to be considered during the report stage of the Crime and Policing Bill, would see the biggest change to abortion law since the Abortion Act of 1967.
'Inducing a miscarriage' remains a criminal offence, with the Abortion Act setting out strict criteria under which terminations can legally take place.
Calls for law reform have increased in recent years, alongside an increased number of prosecutions of women suspected of illegal abortions.
Antoniazzi's amendment has a higher number of backers, with more than 170 names, and significant cross-party support, with signatories from parties including Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, the SDLP, and the Conservatives.
If both the amendment and its parent bill are passed, it would mean women would no longer be prosecuted for ending their own pregnancies.
However, it would not change the framework by which abortion is accessed, with time limits, telemedicine, the grounds for abortion, and the requirement for two doctors' approval all remaining in place.
Among the organisations supporting a change in the law are the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Nursing, and the British Medical Association.
'Under the current laws, women who have experienced unexplained pregnancy loss may also be vulnerable to criminal investigation, and health professionals placed under unacceptable and unwarranted scrutiny,' Dr Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said.
'Worryingly, the fear of being investigated by the police may deter women from seeking urgent medical attention. We believe this is not in the public interest and that these women should be treated with care and compassion, without judgment or fear of imprisonment.'
Sarah Salkeld, deputy medical director at MSI Reproductive Choices, said: 'In no other part of healthcare do you face prison potentially by taking a medical treatment.'
She said that during what is often a 'very upsetting scenario already,' police investigations 'can turn people's lives upside down' and that some women have spent months or years under investigation before cases were dropped.
Salkeld said that 'the vast majority of people are under 10 weeks' when they have a termination, but that those who access abortion outside the legal framework are 'potentially very vulnerable people' such as those in abusive relationships, or who have serious mental health problems.
Creasy's more complex amendment, seeks to go further, also removing doctors from the criminal law, and seeking to prevent abortion law from being changed by a future parliament.
Several MPs have signed both amendments, although in recent days, some have withdrawn their name from Creasy's, following public and private lobbying.
There has been disquiet among MPs and campaigners about the rival amendments, dividing a camp of people who essentially want to achieve the same aim.
There are worries the row over the right way to improve women's rights will in fact have the opposite effect, and draw attention to what can be a divisive issue.
Reform leader Nigel Farage said the current 24 week time limit is 'utterly ludicrous.'
The British Pregnancy Advice Service (Bpas) has been one of the most vocal supporters of Antoniazzi's amendment – and a vocal critic of Creasy's.
The second of the country's biggest abortion providers, MSI Reproductive Choices, is also backing the Antoniazzi amendment, which Louise McCudden, UK head of external affairs said, 'is designed to fix a very specific, urgent problem that we're seeing at the moment, which is women facing criminal investigation and prison for ending their own pregnancies.
'Getting abortion law reform right will take time … we don't want to rush that. But also, the women who are being investigated and facing prosecution and jail can't afford to wait.'
She added that the vote would represent 'a massive milestone.'
'We see in the United States within rollbacks on reproductive rights and rollbacks on gender equality,' she said. 'So it sends a really powerful signal, not just to women here, that they're being supported, [but] also to countries around the world … that the rollback isn't inevitable.'