MPs vote to decriminalise abortion for women in England and Wales

MPs have voted to change abortion legislation to stop women in England and Wales being prosecuted for ending their pregnancy.

The Labour MP for Gower, Tonia Antoniazzi, led the call to decriminalise the 1% of abortions that happen after 24 weeks, saying these were “desperate women” who need “compassion not criminalisation”.

As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs, and backed the plan by a big majority of 242 votes.

Abortion was already legal up to 24 weeks in Great Britain, with the approval of two doctors, and this will still be the case.

Antoniazzi’s amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill was to remove the threat of investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment for late term abortion.

Currently, the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act makes it a criminal offence to deliberately end a pregnancy after 24 weeks outside a narrow set of circumstances in England and Wales.

Setting out her arguments, she flagged that nearly 99% of abortions happen before a pregnancy reaches 20 weeks, leaving just 1% of women “in desperate circumstances”.

Antoniazzi highlighted a series of cases where women had been arrested for illegal abortion offences and urged MPs to support her amendment to recognise “these women need care and support, and not criminalisation”.

“Each one of these cases is a travesty, enabled by our outdated abortion law,” she said.

“Originally passed by an all-male parliament elected by men alone, this Victorian law is increasingly used against vulnerable women and girls.”