British lawmakers voted on Tuesday to prevent women from being prosecuted for having an abortion in England and Wales, a landmark decision that sets the country on a diverging path from the United States on an emotive social issue.
In effect, the vote will largely decriminalize terminating pregnancies that are later than 24 weeks, the current limit, although medical professionals who aid the process could still be prosecuted.
Britain’s Parliament, by a vote of 370 to 137, approved an amendment to a bill that would change Victorian-era laws governing abortion. The vote comes at a time of intense debate over abortion in the United States, where the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 and threw it to the 50 states to legislate their own laws.
By contrast, surveys suggest that the vast majority of the U.S. population — consistently around 88 percent, according to YouGov, a polling agency — say they believe that women should have the right to an abortion.
Was abortion already legal in Britain?
It’s complicated. Currently, having or providing an abortion remains a crime under the Offenses Against the Person Act of 1861 and could, theoretically, be punished with a life sentence.
But the Abortion Act of 1967 made it legal to have an abortion in England, Scotland and Wales, initially up to the first 28 weeks of pregnancy; that period was reduced to 24 weeks in 1990.
Certain conditions must be met:
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Two doctors must authorize the decision.
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Continuing the pregnancy would involve risk to the woman’s mental or physical health.
An abortion after 24 weeks is allowed only if:
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There is a risk to the mother’s life, or of grave permanent injury to her health
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There is a substantial risk of a serious fetal anomaly.
Why do some believe the law needed to change?
Campaigners for change argue that the 1861 law is outdated and that abortion should be regulated as a health care issue rather than a possible crime.
There is also concern that during the past three years, six women have been charged with ending or trying to end their pregnancy outside abortion law.
Over the past decade, the percentage of abortions performed after 20 weeks has remained extremely low — below 2 percent. Campaigners for change argue that those who take abortion pills past the cutoff point are often victims of domestic abuse, have mental health problems or are teenagers whose parents are opposed to abortions, and that they should receive health care and other services rather than face prison time.
Changes to abortion access in the United States have also had an impact. Louise McCudden, head of external affairs at MSI Reproductive Choices, an international organization that provides family planning and abortion services, said in a statement: “With the anti-rights movement feeling emboldened since the reversal of Roe v. Wade in the United States, it could not be more important that here in the U.K. elected lawmakers stand up for women and support everyone to get the medical care they need.”
How will the amendment change the law?
The amendment, which was proposed by Tonia Antoniazzi, a lawmaker for the governing Labour Party, will not repeal the existing criminal law, but aims to prevent women from being investigated, arrested, prosecuted or imprisoned for terminating their own pregnancies. Ms. Antoniazzi argues that those investigated can be victims of domestic abuse or sexual exploitation, or women who have given birth prematurely.
Another amendment that would have required a pregnant woman to have an in-person consultation before being prescribed pills to terminate a pregnancy was defeated.
Who opposes the proposed changes and who is in favor?
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, which campaigns against abortion, has described the effort to change the law as “the greatest threat to unborn children and their mothers since the 1967 Abortion Act.” The organization says that both amendments would mean that no abortions up to birth in any circumstances would be criminalized.
Rebecca Smith, a Conservative lawmaker, told Parliament that supporters of the change “claim that the 24-week time limit for abortions would not change, but in my view this is misleading.”
She added: “Once decriminalization takes place, it is my concern that further steps will be taken to expand abortion time limits.”
But Ms. Antoniazzi’s amendment was supported by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which said in a joint statement that decriminalization would give women in England and Wales the same protection from prosecution available to women in Northern Ireland, Ireland, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a statement that abortion “should be subject to regulatory and professional standards like other medical procedures, not criminal sanctions.”
Stephen Castle is a London correspondent of The Times, writing widely about Britain, its politics and the country’s relationship with Europe.
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