Women's rights campaigners in Westminster, London after taking part in a march from the Royal Courts of Justice calling for decriminalisation of abortion, June 17, 2023
MPs were set to vote today on ending criminal sanctions for women who end their own pregnancies.
Two amendments to criminal justice legislation currently going through Parliament were tabled and, if chosen by Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle, would face a free vote of MPs.
Labour MP for Gower Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment proposes that women no longer face prosecution if they end a pregnancy after 24 weeks or without approval from two doctors, the current legal restrictions on abortion.
Her amendment has the support of 170 MPs across parties, as well as a range of organisations like the British Medical Association, and is likely to pass, effectively removing pregnant women from the criminal law related to the abortion of their own pregnancies.
However, medical professionals would not be exempt from prosecution, and the legal 24-week limit would remain in place.
Walthamstow Labour MP Stella Creasey’s amendment, which goes further and proposes making abortion a human right, is backed by around 120 MPs.
It would remove criminal penalties for both women and medical professionals and remove the 24-week limit.
The votes were held after the Star went to press.
Police guidelines suggesting home searches and digital checks for women who experience pregnancy loss under suspicion of having broken the outdated 1967 Abortion Act have sparked uproar, writes PEOPLES’ HEALTH DISPATCH
