The debate over the UK's abortion law

Abortion law in England and Wales could be about to change as MPs vote on two  amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill. 

Diana Johnson, Labour chair of the Home Affairs Committee, has tabled an amendment that would mean women would no longer be prosecuted if they ended their pregnancies beyond the 24-week legal time limit. 

Another amendment, tabled by Conservative MP Caroline Ansell, proposes lowering the time limit for the procedure from 24 weeks to 22 weeks.

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If the amendments are allowed to proceed by speaker Lindsay Hoyle after the Easter recess, "all parties have said their MPs will be allowed a free vote as an issue of conscience", said The Telegraph.

The proposed amendments come as an "unprecedented" number of women are facing police investigations on suspicion of illegally terminating a pregnancy. MSI Reproductive Choices, one of the UK's leading abortion providers, told the BBC it knows of up to 60 criminal inquiries in England and Wales since 2018, "compared with almost zero before". 

What is the law currently? 

Abortion is legal up to 24 weeks in England, Scotland and Wales provided it is approved by two doctors, and only if the pregnancy would be detrimental to the mother's physical or mental health.

It can also be carried out in "limited circumstances" after 24 weeks, said the Daily Mail, such as severe disability or risk to the mother's life. After 10 weeks, the procedure must be carried out in an approved clinic or NHS hospital.

Deliberately terminating a pregnancy outside of these strict parameters is still a criminal offence under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, which carries a maximum punishment of life in prison.

What are MPs proposing?

The amendment put forward by Labour MP Johnson would mean that any person found to have terminated a pregnancy outside of the current legal parameters would no longer face jail. 

Speaking to The Guardian in February, Johnson said she was "hopeful" the amendment would pass as it would put the law in England and Wales in line with the law in Northern Ireland, where abortion was fully decriminalised in 2019.

"I would find it very odd if parliament decided not to do this for England and Wales, as we've already done it and the sky has not fallen in. Other countries have done it – Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Republic of Ireland – so it's not the terrible thing that some people seem to be making out it is," Johnson said.

Writing in The Telegraph in March, Ansell said the UK was "lagging" behind other European countries by not lowering the abortion limit to 22 weeks. She said that increases in survival rates for premature babies left "a contradiction in how we in the UK regard babies at this gestation". 

"Unlike our closest European neighbours, the UK’s upper time limit for abortion of 24 weeks remains beyond the gestational age at which many babies now survive," she wrote. 

Why is abortion law in the spotlight?

The issue of decriminalisation was "thrown into the spotlight" last year after a mother of three was given a 28-month jail sentence for taking at-home abortion pills after the legal limit, said The Times. But she was released after the Court of Appeal ruled that her case called for "compassion, not punishment".

In the past five years there has been a sharp rise in the number of women accused of having illegal abortions, "including among women who have had natural stillbirths or premature labours", according to senior doctors. The rise has been "linked to increased awareness of at-home abortion pills", said the paper.

Johnson's amendment to decriminalise abortion is thought to have "broad cross-party support". Polling by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service indicated that 55% of MPs did not think women should be prosecuted for having abortions outside the time limit. 

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins has also said she will back the amendment, telling The Telegraph that her voting record on the issue "speaks for itself".

Ansell's plan to lower the abortion limit has gained the backing of some 26 MPs but is facing considerable resistance from senior health leaders and abortion providers. 

Speaking to The Independent, Dr Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said the proposals were "incredibly cruel" and that the professional body is against any reduction in abortion time limits.

"Only one per cent of abortions happen after 20 weeks, but these are often undertaken because significant foetal anomalies are detected or because of serious maternal health issues," she told the paper. 

"Late recognition of the pregnancy or unforeseen changes in a woman's personal circumstances can also mean women access a later term abortion. Regardless of the reason, we firmly believe that no woman should be forced to continue a pregnancy against her will."