In a significant step toward reform, UK parliamentarians have voted to decriminalize abortion in England and Wales, following concerns surrounding the prosecution of women who terminate pregnancies. The House of Commons approved an amendment to a broader crime bill on Tuesday, aimed at ensuring women are not criminally penalized under outdated laws.
Under current legislation, a woman could face criminal charges for ending a pregnancy after 24 weeks or without the consent of two doctors, with laws that still impose a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The amendment was passed with a vote of 379 to 137, paving the way for the crime bill to proceed to the House of Lords, where it may face delays but not outright blockages.
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who introduced one of the amendments, highlighted the urgency of this change. She noted that over the past five years, more than 100 women have been investigated for suspected illegal abortions, including cases involving 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,” she stated. “Just what public interest is this serving? This is not justice, it is cruelty and it has got to end.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, changes were made to allow women to receive abortion pills by mail and self-administer abortions at home within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. This adjustment led to several high-profile cases, with women facing prosecution for illegally acquiring abortion pills and using them beyond the legal limit.
In a notable case from May, Nicola Packer was acquitted after taking abortion medication when she was approximately 26 weeks pregnant, exceeding the home-use limit of 10 weeks. Packer testified during her trial, following a four-year police investigation, that she was unaware of her extended pregnancy. Similarly, Carla Foster was sentenced to prison in 2023 for unlawfully obtaining abortion tablets to terminate her pregnancy when she was between 32 and 34 weeks along, though the Court of Appeal later suspended her sentence.
