Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi urged the Commons to take a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to change abortion laws, but critics said the move would be ‘dangerous’
MPs have backed decriminalising women who end their own pregnancies in a landmark vote.
A Labour backbencher pleaded with them to rip up “Victorian” abortion laws which are “increasingly used against vulnerable women and girls”. Tonia Antoniazzi said every prosecution is a “travesty”.
Her call for the law to be changed was backed by a majority by 379 votes to 137. In an emotional speech Ms Antoniazzi said existing laws mean women are “dragged from a hospital bed to (a) police cell”.
But critics including Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood branded the measure “dangerous” ahead of the crucial vote. At the moment abortion is allowed up to 24 weeks, although there are exceptions if a woman’s life is in danger.
Home medication is permitted up to 10 weeks. In the past three years, six women have appeared in court in England charged with ending or attempting to end their pregnancy illegally.
Ms Antoniazzi told the Commons that women should never be prosecuted. She said her amendment to the Government’s Crime and Policing Bill was a “once in a generation” chance to change the law.
Under Ms Antoniazzi’s amendment, a woman would not be prosecuted in relation to her own body, but others including medics and coercive partners could be. A separate amendment was put forward by fellow Labour backbencher Stella Creasy, which would offer legal protection to all involved.
No vote was held on Ms Creasy’s amendment. Ms Antoniazzi told the Commons: “This is urgent. We know multiple women are still in a system awaiting a decision, accused of breaking this law. They cannot afford to wait.”
Earlier this year Nicola Packer, 45, was acquitted after being tried for taking abortion medicine at home during the Covid pandemic when she was around 26 weeks pregnant. She told jurors she did not realise she was as far through her pregnancy as she was.
Ms Antoniazzi said her amendment would result in “removing the threat of investigation, arrest, prosecution or imprisonment” of any woman who acts in relation to her own pregnancy. She added: “Originally passed by an all-male parliament elected by men alone, this Victorian law is increasingly used against vulnerable women and girls.”Do you think abortion should be decriminalised? Take our poll below. If you can’t see it, click here
But Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who said she believes safe and legal abortions are part of female healthcare, earlier branded the amendments “unnecessary” and “dangerous”.
Ms Mahmood, who will not be present for Tuesday’s vote due to being away on Government business, said in a letter to constituents: “It is hard to see these measures as anything other than extreme.”
She continued: “I oppose extending abortions up until the point of birth beyond the exemptions that currently exist, as doing so would not only be unnecessary but dangerous.
“I am deeply concerned to see these measures being progressed in the name of women’s rights, when the potential physical and mental impacts on women would be so devastating.”
According to latest data, there were 252,122 abortions reported in England and Wales in 2022, the highest figure on record. MPs were given a free vote – meaning they were not required to vote along party lines.
Justice minister Alex Davies-Jones told MPs the Government is neutral. She said: “If the will of Parliament is that the law in England and Wales should change, then the Government would not stand in the way of such change but would seek to ensure that the law is workable and enforced in the way that Parliament intended.”
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said the vote is a “landmark moment for women’s rights”. Chief executive Heidi Stewart said: “This is a landmark moment for women’s rights in this country and the most significant change to our abortion law since the 1967 Abortion Act was passed.
“There will be no more women investigated after enduring a miscarriage, no more women dragged from their hospital beds to the back of a police van, no more women separated from their children because of our archaic abortion law.
“This is a hard won victory, and we thank all those who have campaigned alongside us, and in particular those women, like Nicola Packer, who have spoken out about their traumatic experiences in the hope of achieving the change parliament has delivered today.”