London: The House of Commons on Tuesday approved a historic measure to remove criminal penalties for women who choose to end their pregnancies in England and Wales. MPs voted by 379 to 137 in favour of an amendment to the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, effectively ensuring that women will no longer face prosecution for obtaining abortions at any stage of gestation under existing law
The change was championed by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who argued that it is cruel and unjust to criminalise vulnerable women, including those who suffer miscarriages or stillbirths. Police forces investigated more than 100 cases over the past five years, some involving women who experienced natural pregnancy loss.
Under the 1967 Abortion Act, pregnancy termination is lawful up to twenty four weeks provided two doctors certify medical grounds. Beyond that limit, women and their doctors risk life imprisonment under the 1861 statute. The newly passed amendment preserves the gestational limit and existing medical safeguards but strips away the threat of criminal sanction for women themselves.
Next the bill moves to the House of Lords, where peers may debate its provisions but cannot permanently block it. If the Lords pass the legislation without significant change, the reform will become law in the coming months, bringing England and Wales into alignment with Northern Ireland where women already face no criminal penalties for terminating pregnancies.
Reaction has been mixed. Pro choice campaigners hailed the vote as an overdue step towards compassionate healthcare and bodily autonomy. Pro life groups and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales expressed deep concern, warning that decriminalization could weaken safeguards, increase unsupervised procedures, and diminish protection for unborn children. Medical professionals have likewise been divided, with some fearing that the change will lead to self managed abortions without adequate oversight.
With the Commons now on record in support of decriminalization, attention turns to the Lords and, ultimately, to implementation and to the experiences of the estimated quarter of a million women who seek abortions each year in England and Wales.