MPs have voted to make the biggest change to abortion laws in 50 years this evening, backing the decriminalising of abortion for women at any point in their pregnancy. An amendment to the crime and policing bill was passed by 379 ayes to 137 noes after MPs were given a free vote on the issue this evening, with several cabinet ministers voting in favour of the change.
Now women who end their pregnancy after 24 weeks gestation – or without the sign-off from two doctors, as has been the usual practice – will no longer face the threat of arrest and imprisonment for late-term abortion. The new amendment will not, however, change any laws regarding the provision of abortion care within a health service setting – including the existing time limit of 24 weeks and the requirement for two doctors to approve the request.
It was Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment that was selected by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle today; the narrower of two rival amendments, it ensures criminal sanctions for doctors involved in late-term procedures would stay in place. Making her case, Antoniazzi claimed that 99 per cent of women who have abortions do so before 20 weeks, leaving 1 per cent ‘in desperate circumstances’. Labour MP Stella Creasy put forward an amendment that was far broader – calling for full decriminalisation in all circumstances. Tory shadow health minister Caroline Johnson also put forward an amendment which would require a pregnant woman to have an in-person appointment with a doctor before being prescribed abortion drugs, in a move to stop ‘pills by post’ terminations. This didn’t pass, however, with 379 MPs voting against it and only 117 in favour.
Among the ayes tonight were many in the cabinet, including the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Defence Secretary John Healey, Science and Tech Secretary Peter Kyle and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband. Supportive ministers included the Foreign Office’s Hamish Falconer, DHSC’s Stephen Kinnock and energy minister Michael Shanks. Only eight Conservative politicians backed the amendment while no Reform UK MPs lent their support: four moved against it while leader Nigel Farage didn’t register a vote.
The next question is whether the amendment will pass through the Lords. It received the public backing of all the main abortion providers and a number of prominent healthcare organisations – such as the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists – but there remains considerable scepticism, with particular concern about a potential rise in coercive abortions. Antoniazzi has pushed back, dismissing fears as ‘misinformation’, but it is now up to peers to decide whether the law change will come to pass.
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