Why it's never been more important to decriminalise abortion

Independent

7 days ago

When I scrambled out of my bathroom on all fours after an abortion in January 2022, I was paralysed by the pain.
Fast forward to five months later and again I found myself frozen with pain in the same flat in south London. However, this time round the anguish wasn't physical; instead, it was provoked by news the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v Wade – the landmark decision that legalised abortion nationwide in the US in 1973 – and millions of women had lost their legal right to have a pregnancy terminated. Life has changed immeasurably in America since this seismic decision.
Yet the shift has invariably had an impact across the pond, too; with anti-abortion ideologues growing further emboldened and better funded here in Britain. That's why it's never been more important to decriminalise abortion – now.
And now, Labour MPs Stella Creasy and Tonia Antoniazzi have both tabled amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill which would seek to decriminalise pregnancy terminations without 'changing anything about provision of abortion care'. It comes after the UK's largest abortion services estimated that police have investigated at least 100 women for having an abortion in the last five years.
Amendment NC1 has been backed by 177 cross-party MPs, as well as 50 leading medical bodies, women's rights groups and healthcare providers, including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Medical Association. MPs will be voting on it today.
These calls are by no means new. Rather, abortion providers, charities, medical bodies, activists and MPs have spent years calling for abortion law to be disentangled from criminal law and overseen in the same way that other medical practices are. But their demands have often fallen on deaf ears for a whole range of reasons.
One is the fact that many Britons are oblivious that abortion care remains firmly ensconced in criminal law.
For those who need a refresher on how abortion law works here: pregnancy terminations can be legally carried out within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy in England, Scotland and Wales – but only if the abortion is approved by two doctors, with the health professionals agreeing that continuing with the pregnancy would be riskier for the physical or mental health of the woman than having an abortion.
If a medical professional delivers an abortion outside of the terms of the 1967 act, they are at risk of being prosecuted.
Legislation passed in 1861 means any woman who ends a pregnancy without getting legal permission from two doctors can technically face up to life imprisonment – fortunately, this does not currently happen in reality. Abortions after the 24-week mark can only be legally performed in very restricted situations, such as if the mother's life is in danger, or the child will have a severe disability.
So, why are so many people so keen to reform abortion law? Well, for starters, it is hardly surprising there is enthusiasm to change legislation which dates back to a time when young boys risked their lives as chimney sweeps – and public executions were legal.
Additionally, the desire for reform arises from the recognition that those who access abortions outside regulated provision or past the cut-off point are (for the most part) highly vulnerable. As such, they need support and care, not the psychological pressure and impending doom of a police investigation hanging over them; or worse still, being locked up in a prison system riddled with human rights abuses.
'Our lawmakers have a choice to make,' Sarah Salkeld, deputy medical director at leading abortion provider, MSI Reproductive Choices, tells The Independent.
'Do they want to be part of the 'green wave', moving gender equality forward? Or do they want to see prosecutions of vulnerable women on their watch? At a time when reproductive rights are facing rollbacks in many countries, and with the anti-rights movement feeling emboldened by the reversal of Roe v Wade in the United States, it could not be more important that here in the UK, elected lawmakers stand up for women and support everyone to get the medical care they need safely, confidentially and free from the threat of invasive investigation and prosecution.'
She points out that women who have illegal abortions sometimes have significant mental health problems, or may be domestic abuse victims, or teenagers whose parents are opposed to abortions. 'I don't see how it would be in anyone's interest to prosecute somebody who has gone to such desperate measures,' Ms Salkeld says. 'It just doesn't feel right and it doesn't support someone who is clearly in a very difficult position and we are talking very small numbers of people here who would potentially be in that position.'
For this reason and more, it is high time we decriminalise abortion. With the far right growing around the world and its war on reproductive rights ramping up, reform feels especially urgent. MPs were set to debate similar amendments around this time last year but ongoing campaigning efforts were abruptly cut short when a snap election was called and parliament was dissolved to make way for this.
When I think back to my own nightmare experience of having an abortion – something I wrote about in a first-person story for The Independent – I am reminded of the fear I felt contending with overwhelmed abortion providers. In the end, overstretched services meant I was left near the 10-week cut-off point for a medical abortion, which involves taking pills.
If I had gone past this deadline, I would have been forced to have a surgical abortion. While all abortions are safe, surgical ones are riskier and more of an ordeal as they involve going to hospital for a procedure.
For some, an abortion will be the most traumatic experience of their lives. For others, it is not. But the important thing to bear in mind is the fact your experience of a termination is not just dictated by your personal feelings or physical health.
On the contrary, external factors can transform a straightforward procedure you quickly recover from into a living nightmare that needlessly drags on and on. Sadly, it is the latter that women so often encounter when they are pulled into the criminal justice system after having an abortion.
We finally have the chance to change that – and improve women's lives.