UK Mulls Decriminalizing Abortion Amid ‘Excessive’ Prosecutions 

The United Kingdom’s parliament debated proposals on Tuesday on whether to decriminalize abortion amid rising concern that police are using antiquated laws to prosecute women who decide to terminate their pregnancies, the Associated Press reported. 

The House of Commons debated two amendments, and passed one, to the broader Crime and Policing Bill in a move that is considered the biggest overhaul of reproductive rights in England and Wales in almost six decades, the Guardian wrote. 

The first amendment, brought forward by Labour lawmaker Tonia Antoniazzi and which lawmakers voted in favor of, would end the prosecution of women who take steps to terminate their pregnancies at any point.  

The change is important, Antoniazzi added, because police have investigated more than 100 women in the past five years for suspected illegal abortions, including those who had miscarriages and stillbirths.  

“This is just wrong,” Antoniazzi said before the debate. “It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money, it’s a waste of the judiciary’s time, and it’s not in the public interest.”  

The second amendment, proposed by lawmaker Stella Creasy and discussed by lawmakers, sought to bar the prosecution of medical professionals who help women obtain abortions, and prevent abortion law from being changed by a future parliament. This amendment, however, stalled.   

Anti-abortion groups oppose both amendments, saying they would legalize abortions at any stage. 

“Unborn babies will have any remaining protection stripped away, and women will be left at the mercy of abusers,” said Alithea Williams, public policy manager for UK pro-life campaign group, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. 

If the bill is ultimately passed, women would no longer be prosecuted for terminating their pregnancies but their access to abortion would not change: It would still require the approval of two doctors. 

Abortions are legal in England, Scotland, and Wales up to 24 weeks and can also be carried out beyond that under special circumstances, such as when the life of the mother is threatened. Abortion was also decriminalized in Northern Ireland in 2019. 

Abortion law was changed during the Covid-19 pandemic to allow women to receive abortion pills by mail and terminate their own pregnancies at home within the first 10 weeks.  

However, this has also led to a handful of cases in which women were prosecuted for illegally procuring abortion pills to terminate their pregnancies beyond 24 weeks.