11 hours ago
UK parliament votes to decriminalise abortion, repeal 19th century law
The British parliament on Tuesday voted to decriminalise abortion in the United Kingdom and Wales in order for the women to avoid being investigated by the police for ending their pregnancies under the legislation which dates back to the mid 19th century. The majority vote to decriminalise the procedure is the biggest change in abortion laws being brought in the UK and Wales in the past 60 years.
Abortion has remained a legal practice in the UK and Wales for the last 60 years but up to 24 weeks and after the approval of two doctors. Women are liable to face criminal charges that carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if they end a pregnancy after 24 weeks under the Victorian-era law.
But as the parliament voted with 379 voting in favour, and 137 voting against, the amendment brought by the Labour parliamentarian Tonia Antoniazzi, passed in a free vote of MPs and now, any woman who terminates her pregnancy after the 24 weeks period would not be at risk of being investigated by the police.
No woman facing one of the hardest moments of her life should face a criminal investigation. Today we have the opportunity to change that.
I urge colleagues to support New Clause 1 and stand up for compassion and justice.
— Tonia Antoniazzi (@ToniaAntoniazzi) June 17, 2025
However, the amended law states that it will still penalise anyone who assists a woman, including medical professionals, in getting the abortion done outside of the legal framework as mentioned in the amended law passed by the parliament.
In Britain, criminal convictions of breaking abortion law is rare but the number of prosecutions has increased after the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic when the law was amended and it was allowed to take abortion pills at home to end pregnancies within 10 weeks of conception.
Labour Member of Parliament Tonia Antoniazzi said the current abortion law has been used to investigate at least 100 women in the past five years, including those who had given birth prematurely or were forced into abortion by abusive partners.
'Each one of these cases is a travesty enabled by our outdated abortion law. This is not justice, it is cruelty and it has got to end,' she told the parliament, Reuters reported.
