MPs vote to decriminalise abortion for girls in England and Wales

MPs have voted to switch abortion law to forestall ladies in England and Wales being prosecuted for finishing their being pregnant.

The Labour MP for Gower, Tonia Antoniazzi, led the decision to decriminalise the 1% of abortions that occur after 24 weeks, announcing those had been “desperate women” who want “compassion not criminalisation”.

As a topic of moral sense, MPs had been allowed to vote consistent with their private ideals, and sponsored the plan through a large majority of 242 votes.

The present regulation in England and Wales states that abortion is unlawful however allowed as much as the primary 24 weeks of being pregnant and past that during sure instances such as though the lady’s existence is at risk.

Antoniazzi’s modification to the Crime and Policing Bill will take away the specter of investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment for overdue time period abortion.

Setting out her arguments, she flagged that almost 99% of abortions occur prior to a being pregnant reaches 20 weeks, leaving simply 1% of girls “in desperate circumstances”.

Antoniazzi highlighted a chain of instances the place ladies were arrested for unlawful abortion offences and advised MPs to strengthen her modification 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“Each one of these cases is a travesty, enabled by our outdated abortion law,” she mentioned.

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

Only 3 ladies had been convicted of getting an unlawful abortion between 1861 and November 2022, when the regulation used to be modified to permit ladies to take abortion capsules at house as much as 10 weeks of being pregnant.

Records gathered through the United Kingdom’s biggest abortion products and services have discovered no less than 100 ladies were investigated for having an abortion within the final 5 years, and 6 have gave the impression in court docket.

Stella Creasy requested why MPs would wish to retain out of date rules “in any shape or form, rather than learning from what is best practice around the world for all of our constituents”.

The Labour MP for Walthamstow put ahead a 2d modification urging MPs to move additional, ditch any abortion-related clauses the 1861 Act, and enshrine abortion get entry to as a human proper.

This used to be publicly sponsored through 108 MPs prior to the controversy – however abortion suppliers, together with the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, mentioned the modification used to be no longer the precise method to reach “generational change”, and it didn’t move to a vote.

Conservative shadow well being minister Dr Caroline Johnson put ahead a 3rd modification, aimed toward preventing capsules through put up abortions through requiring a pregnant lady to have an in-person session prior to being prescribed drugs to terminate her being pregnant.

The Johnson modification fell, with 379 MPs vote casting in opposition to and 117 vote casting for.

Earlier, the Antoniazzi modification had gained strengthen from 379 MPs, with 137 in opposition to.

The new Antoniazzi clause would no longer alternate any regulation in regards to the provision of abortion products and services inside a healthcare atmosphere, together with however no longer restricted to the cut-off date, telemedicine, the grounds for abortion, or the requirement for 2 medical doctors’ approval.

It used to be sponsored through the entire major abortion suppliers, in addition to 180 MPs from around the Commons and 50 organisations together with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).

However, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children has referred to as it an “extreme and dangerous proposal” that will “effectively decriminalise abortions”.