Parliament poised to decriminalise abortion in historic vote

This has broad cross-party support. New polling showed 55 per cent of MPs did not think women should be prosecuted for having abortions outside the time limit. Only 23 per cent supported prosecutions, with the rest answering “don’t know”.

The survey of MPs by YouGov showed 81 per cent of Labour MPs were in favour of decriminalisation, compared with 37 per cent of Conservatives. Among the newest 2019 election intake of MPs, mainly young Tories, 71 per cent said women should not be prosecuted, reflecting shifting sentiment in favour of abortion within the Conservative Party.

The poll was carried out by abortion provider British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which is leading a coalition of women’s rights organisations and medical royal colleges backing decriminalisation.

Rachael Clarke, chief of staff at BPAS, said the momentum and “balance of power” within parliament has shifted in favour of changing the law.

She said: “There is support for change from both sides of the house, and the UK does not have a strong party divide on abortion like there is in America. Our polling does show a huge gender divide, with three quarters of female MPs believing women should not be prosecuted compared to less than half of male MPs.”

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The amendment would bring the law in England and Wales in line with Northern Ireland, where abortion was decriminalised in 2019.

Dame Diana Johnson, the Labour MP putting forward the amendment, said treating abortion as a health rather than a criminal issue would mark a “historic step forward” for women.

She said: “Vulnerable women are being threatened with jail using a law from the Victorian era, which was passed before women even had the right to vote or sit as MPs. Parliament has moved on and society has moved on. The vast majority of people accept that abortion is a healthcare issue between a woman and her doctor. Abortion has been decriminalised in other parts of the world, including Northern Ireland, and the sky has not fallen in.”

Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, indicated that she would back decriminalisation. She told The Daily Telegraph that her voting record — she has previously supported decriminalisation and backed buffer zones for abortion clinics — “speaks for itself”.

Dame Diana Johnson, third from right, said “vulnerable women are being threatened with jail using a law from the Victorian era”

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The amendment would not change the 24-week limit, and women seeking an abortion would still need to meet the grounds set out in the Abortion Act 1967. However, women who end pregnancies outside these limits would no longer face criminal prosecution under the 1861 law.

Campaigners are confident there is enough support for the amendment to pass, meaning it would take effect later this year. MPs are given a free vote on abortion as a matter of conscience. Recent votes have demonstrated a clear parliamentary majority for liberalising abortion laws, with MPs voting 297 to 110 in favour of an amendment imposing “buffer zones” stopping protesters outside clinics in 2022.

The issue of decriminalisation was thrown into the spotlight last year when a mother of three was handed a 28-month jail sentence for having an illegal abortion. She was released after the Court of Appeal ruled that her case called for “compassion, not punishment”.

In the past five years there has been an “unprecedented” rise in the number of women accused of illegal abortions, including among women who have had natural stillbirths or premature labours, senior doctors say. This is linked to increased awareness of at-home abortion pills.

Jonathan Lord, co-chairman of the British Society of Abortion Care Providers and an NHS consultant gynaecologist, said that cases of women having late-stage abortions were “very rare and always traumatic” and required complex medical care rather than “years of investigation and suspicion”. He said many several recent cases involved women in abusive relationships, adding: “These are not criminals, they are victims and they need compassion and care, not public shaming, trial and prison.”

Lord added that women’s lives were being “destroyed” by criminal investigations, and in some cases their existing young children had been taken into care. He said: “The law is causing life-changing harm not just to the women involved, but to their children and family. I’ve never witnessed such cruelty and harm as I’ve seen in the past couple of years, all caused by a law that has its origins in medieval society.”

Abortion providers say that since 2021 they have been asked by police for medical records of more than 50 women. In January the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists issued guidance telling medics not to report suspected illegal abortions to the police.

The Conservative MP Caroline Nokes said a rising number of women were “having their lives turned upside down through years-long police investigations” .

She said: “In many of the cases we know about, women are being visited by police officers in hospital — that can never be in the public interest.

“Access to safe, timely abortion as well as working to expand and strengthen women’s reproductive rights are important to all parties. Diana Johnson MP’s amendment has garnered support from across the House and that is in no small part due to consensus from all sides that we need to update our abortion laws and bring them into line with how we provide care in the 21st century.”

• Abortion is still a criminal offence in England and Wales under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, with a maximum sentence of life in jail.

• The 1967 Abortion Act did not legalise abortion, but it provided exemptions to the 1861 act allowing abortions in certain circumstances, with the authorisation of two doctors and before 24 weeks of pregnancy except in exceptional situations.

• MPs will vote on an amendment that would remove women from the 1861 law, so they no longer face prosecution. The 1967 act would remain intact, and any doctors who help a woman have an abortion outside the 24-week legal limit could face prosecution.

• Six women have appeared in court in England charged with illegal abortions since December 2022. Before then, only three women had been convicted of an illegal abortion since the law was introduced in 1861.

• Abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 2019. Other nations including Canada, New Zealand, Australia, France and the Netherlands have decriminalised abortion.

After suffering a traumatic natural stillbirth while 28 weeks pregnant, Zahra had her home raided by police and her phone and laptop confiscated in an “act of cruelty”.

Despite having no evidence that the teenage girl had taken abortion pills, police approached abortion providers to demand medical notes. The year-long investigation drove Zahra to self-harm, and only ended when a coroner ruled her baby died of natural causes.

Other women suspected of illegal abortions have been arrested and thrown in police cells just hours after surgery. One recalled: “Police hounded me with questions less than 48 hours after I’d given birth.”

Investigations can last up to four years, tearing families apart. Three recent cases involve mothers who have been banned from contacting their existing children while under investigation. One said: “The last time my children saw me was when I was half-naked, being arrested and handcuffed on the floor.”

There have been about 100 criminal investigations into women and girls whose pregnancies have ended since 2018, compared with almost zero in the years before. This surge in investigations is linked to increased awareness and suspicion among emergency services over use of at-home abortion pills.