Parliament takes steps to decriminalize abortions in England and Wales

CNA Staff, Jun 17, 2025 / 18:46 pm (CNA).

British lawmakers have voted to decriminalize abortions in England and Wales in a move that pro-life advocates and medical professionals say could endanger women and unborn children. 

The House of Commons — the publicly-elected house of Parliament of the United Kingdom — approved on June 17 an amendment to change the law so that it would no longer be illegal for women to abort their unborn children for any reason, up to birth.  

Abortions in England and Wales are currently legal for up to 24 weeks of pregnancy with the approval of two doctors and in some other cases after 24 weeks. 

Labor member of Parliament (MP) Tonia Antoniazzi, who introduced the amendment, argued it was cruel to prosecute a woman for killing her unborn child and cited police investigations of more than 100 women for suspected illegal abortions.

In one case Antoniazzi cited, a mother of three who was eight months pregnant killed her unborn child and was then sentenced to about two years in prison. Antoniazzi said of the current law: “This is not justice, it is cruelty and it has got to end.”

The amendment was opposed by pro-life advocates and medical professionals. In a June 17 letter, more than 1,000 medical professionals urged the members of Parliament to oppose the abortion amendment.

In the letter, the medical professionals noted that the amendment would make abortions “possible up to birth for any reason including abortions for sex-selective purposes.” 

Antoniazzi’s amendment would, they said, “remove any legal deterrent against women administering their own abortions late in pregnancy.” 

The letter also encouraged the MPs to reinstate in-person check-ins for chemical abortions — a measure that was defeated on Tuesday.

Right to Life United Kingdom expressed concern that Antoniazzi’s amendment could endanger women “because of the risks involved with self-administered late-term abortions.”

In the June 17 press release, the pro-life group noted the high risk of late-term abortions and abortion pills, maintaining that the amendment “would enable abortion providers to cover up the disastrous consequences of the pills by post scheme.” 

The group also noted the high cost of lives lost related to the prospective abortion of viable unborn children. The amendment, they said, could lead to “an increased number of viable babies’ lives being ended well beyond the 24-week abortion time limit and beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb.” 

The decriminalization amendment, which was part of a broader crime bill, passed 379-137. The House of Commons will need to pass the crime bill before it goes to the House of Lords — the second chamber of the U.K. Parliament — where it could be delayed but not blocked.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264815/parliament-takes-steps-to-decriminalize-abortions-in-england-and-wales