Senior Labor figures want to water down the bill to decriminalize abortion in England and Wales, ahead of a historic House of Commons debate on the issue.
Later this spring, MPs are expected to vote freely on a proposal from Labor MP Diana Johnson to abolish the criminal offense associated with a woman terminating her own pregnancy.
The proposal from Johnson, who chairs the home affairs select committee, has the support of MPs on both sides of the House and senior doctors’ groups. It is widely expected to pass, in a major change to abortion law.
In England and Wales, having an abortion after 24 weeks is an offense punishable by a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Campaigners supporting Johnson’s amendment, which would remove the offense, say it would ensure no woman can be prosecuted or jailed for terminating a pregnancy. Rather, abortion would be treated as a health issue.
This would bring the law in England and Wales in line with that of Northern Ireland, where abortion was fully decriminalized in 2019. In Northern Ireland, women can no longer be prosecuted for terminating a pregnancy after 24 weeks, although such terminations are extremely rare, as even early abortions are offered only in clinics.
Some senior Labor figures have privately expressed concern that Johnson’s proposal goes too far due to the provision of telemedicine in England and Wales, through which a woman seeking an early-stage abortion can see herself prescribe tablets at home without consulting a doctor.
Under rules introduced during the Covid pandemic and later made permanent, women in England and Wales can get abortion pills at home after a remote consultation. This is not an option in Northern Ireland, where the first of two tablets required for a termination of pregnancy can only be administered in a clinic.
Some fear that under Johnson’s proposal, a woman who misleads an abortion provider into obtaining pills to terminate a pregnancy at home after 24 weeks would not be committing an offense.
There are also concerns that such a change could be counterproductive by provoking backlash from anti-abortion groups or pushing back against telemedicine in England and Wales. “Some people are wondering if this is the right thing to do,” said one Labor MP.
Another Labor source said: “There is certainly a large group of undecideds (and) a lot of different people working on alternatives. »
Two influential Labor MPs have discussed drafting various amendments to modernize abortion law.
Some senior Labor figures want to see a more restrictive proposal that would effectively ensure women could never be jailed for terminating a pregnancy, but would not remove the criminal offense altogether.
The Commons is set to hold a historic debate on abortion when the Criminal Justice Bill returns to the House after Easter. Johnson’s proposal was made as an amendment to this bill.
Calls for a review of the law have grown since mother-of-three Carla Foster was jailed last year for ending her pregnancy using pills after the legal deadline. His sentence was reduced on appeal.
Abortion law in England and Wales is based on the Offenses Against the Person Act 1861, which banned terminations of pregnancies and is still used to prosecute women today.
The Abortion Act of 1967 decriminalized abortion in certain circumstances, but it is worded in a way that means abortion is not a right. Instead, it exempts women from prosecution when two doctors agree that pregnancy would pose a risk to their physical or mental health. The law initially allowed layoffs for up to 28 weeks, but this was lowered to 24 weeks in a 1991 amendment.
The 1967 law never extended to Northern Ireland, where abortion was illegal until a 2019 law repealed key sections of the 1861 legislation. A new legal framework was introduced in 2020 to implement abortion provision in Northern Ireland up to 24 weeks. As a result, Northern Ireland’s legislation is more up to date than that of England and Wales. Scotland has separate laws and has set up a working group to look at decriminalization.
Abortion is treated as a matter of conscience in parliamentary votes, so MPs from all parties are allowed to vote as they wish, without first instance instruction.
Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, has suggested she might vote in favor of decriminalization. A source close to Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, said he was prepared to vote for whatever Atkins chose.
Johnson’s amendment was signed by senior MPs, including Labor MPs Jess Phillips and Harriet Harman, as well as Conservatives Tracey Crouch and Dehenna Davison. He has the support of MPs from six parties, giving him a strong chance of being selected for a vote by Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle.
The amendment also has the support of leaders of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Midwives.
Johnson told the Guardian: “These laws are no longer fit for purpose. This is an opportunity to take a step forward and treat women’s right to choose as a health issue, not a criminal issue. Society has evolved. Other countries around the world – France, Australia, New Zealand – have decriminalized abortion, as we did in Northern Ireland a few years ago. Why should a woman from Birmingham be treated any differently to a woman from Belfast?
Harman said: “Women who have to terminate their pregnancies need help, support and health care, not the police, prosecutors and courts. »
Rachael Clarke, Chief of Staff of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), said: “Every Labor MP elected in 2019 was elected on the basis of a manifesto committed to the decriminalization of abortion. »