UK – MPs and peers approve law to pardon women convicted over abortions as far back as 1800s

Law will also expunge police records for women arrested in England and Wales, and stop future prosecutions

Hannah Al-Othman
Fri 17 Apr 2026

Legislation to pardon women who have been convicted of illegal abortions has passed its final parliamentary hurdle, paving the way for a landmark change in the law in England and Wales.

The amendment to the crime and policing bill, which will also expunge the police records of those arrested and investigated over illegal abortions, was considered in the House of Lords during a phase of parliamentary ping-pong, where a bill passes back and forth between the Lords and Commons.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/17/law-pardon-women-convicted-abortions-passes-uk-parliament

17.04.2026

News

1861 Offences against the Person Act

abortion law reform

Crime and Policing bill

Misleading headlines claim UK legalised abortion until birth

Misleading headlines claim UK legalised abortion until birth

By Leticia Batista Cabanas
27/03/2026

A network of online European outlets and social media posts are claiming that the United Kingdom will now allow abortion up until the moment of birth, based on a confusion of the terms “decriminalisation” and “legalisation”.

On the 18th of March, the British Parliament’s upper house, known as the House of Lords, voted to end the criminalisation of women who terminate their pregnancies up until the moment of birth.

Shortly after the vote, news of Britain “allowing abortion until birth” went viral: misleading interpretations were quickly picked up by fringe media outlets across Spain, Italy, France and Portugal.

Continued: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/03/27/misleading-headlines-claim-uk-legalised-abortion-until-birth

27.03.2026

Commentary

1861 Offences against the Person Act

decriminalisation of abortion

UK – Anti-choice groups are pushing to end pills-by-post abortions – here’s how to help stop them

This is an urgent call to protect our reproductive rights

By Jennifer Savin
04 March 2026

In 2022, we celebrated a massive victory when 'pills-by-post' abortions were made a permanent option following the pandemic. This service allowed women to access early medical abortion from the safety of their own homes, removing the exhaustion of travel, the stress of childcare, and the fear of being spotted outside a clinic. It was a compassionate, evidence-based policy that brought abortion care into the 21st century – but right now, that progress is under fire.

Anti-abortion groups are mounting a coordinated campaign to strip away this access, using the House of Lords to try and drag our healthcare back to the Victorian era.

Continued: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a70592851/vote-telemedicine-abortion-2026/

04.03.2026

News

1861 Offences against the Person Act

abortion pills

abortion pills by post

End 1861

Katherine O’Brien

pills by post

ritish Pregnancy Advisory Service

UK – Parliament takes a historic step toward decriminalising abortion—but the work isn’t over

The recent shake-up of abortion laws in England and Wales marks an important moment for abortion rights, but full decriminalisation remains essential

BMJ 2025; 389 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.r1348 (Published 30 June 2025)
Jayne Kavanagh, co-chair, Hayley Webb, co-chair

We welcomed the passing of amendment NC1 in parliament on 17 June, which will put a stop to the criminalisation of anyone who ends their own pregnancy in England and Wales. This is a landmark step forward for reproductive rights and justice. In recent years, increasing numbers of women have been investigated and prosecuted under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.1 This Victorian-era law was enacted before women even had the right to vote and carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for “unlawful abortion.”

More than 100 women are believed to have been investigated since 2020 for allegedly ending or attempting to end their pregnancies outside the parameters of the 1967 Abortion Act, which set out legal exemptions for abortion.2 Many endured distressing and intrusive investigations, faced enormous legal costs, and suffered lasting psychological, financial, and reputational harm—repercussions that also deeply affected their families.

Continued: https://www.bmj.com/content/389/bmj.r1348

MPs vote to decriminalize abortion, the English way. What will the US say?

UK MPs voted Tuesday to decriminalize abortion for women in England and Wales, but they’re wary of the U.S.’s divisive debate.

June 17, 2025
By Dan Bloom

LONDON — U.K. MPs just liberalized a 164-year-old abortion law with typical British understatement. Now, to hope that Donald Trump’s America doesn’t notice.

The House of Commons voted 379-137 Tuesday night to remove criminal sanctions for women having their own abortion in England and Wales, partially unpicking a law passed in 1861.

Continued: https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-abortion-decriminalization-united-states-donald-trump/

MPs vote to decriminalise abortion for women in England and Wales

June 17, 2025
Jennifer McKiernan

MPs have voted to change abortion legislation to stop women in England and Wales being prosecuted for ending their pregnancy.

The landslide vote to decriminalise the procedure is the biggest change to abortion laws in England and Wales for nearly 60 years.

Women who terminate their pregnancy outside the rules, for example after 24 weeks, will no longer be at risk of being investigated by police.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2le12114j9o

UK – In 1961, my abortion was unmentionable; why next week’s vote is important.

Diane Munday had an abortion in 1961. Here she explains to Sofia Fenton why she dedicated her life to reforming the law.

By Sofia Fenton and Diane Munday
16 June 2025

When the 1967 Abortion Act passed, I sat on the terrace of the House of Commons with my fellow campaigners and marked the moment with half a glass of champagne. Half because it was only a partial victory – I felt it was a necessary compromise but that the job was far from finished.

One in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Yet abortion has not been decriminalised. A woman must get the sign-off of two doctors. Two doctors who have likely never seen her before nor will they see her again but are strangers making one of the most important decisions of someone’s life. It was a requirement I opposed even in the 1960s – but it was the price of getting the bill through Parliament.

Continued: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/lifestyle/a65075635/diane-munday-abortion-bill/

16.06.2025

Opinion

1861 Offences against the Person Act

MPs debate decriminalising abortion in England and Wales

3 June, 2025
MPs yesterday debated decriminalising abortion following a public petition on the subject. The debate was led by All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group member Tony Vaughan MP. Humanists UK welcomes the debate and calls on MPs to back an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to take abortion out of the criminal code. This is likely to be voted on later this month.

The debate was called as the petition calling on the Government to decriminalise abortion received more than 100,000 signatures. It took place ahead of a proposed amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which seeks to remove women from the criminal law in relation ending their own pregnancies led by Tonia Antoniazzi MP and has the support of over 115 cross-party MPs and 50 pro-choice organisations including BPAS, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and Humanists UK. The amendment will not change abortion time limits or its provision in any way. If selected, the amendment will be voted on later this month.

Continued: https://humanists.uk/2025/06/03/mps-debate-decriminalising-abortion-in-england-and-wales/

UK – ‘Isn’t abortion legal in the UK?’ Your questions around the need to decriminalise abortion answered

We're campaigning to have abortion decriminalised in England and Wales. Here's everything you need to know, answered

By Catriona Innes
27 May 2025

Last week, we, alongside UK abortion provider BPAS, launched a powerful new campaign, to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales.

While safe and legal abortions are available to most in the UK - roughly one in three women will have one in their lifetime - there’s been a worrying rise in criminal cases being brought under a Victorian law dating back to 1861.

Continued: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a64860406/campaign-ama/

Inside the fight to decriminalise abortion in the UK

More than 50 MPs have backed an amendment to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales. But does it offer real change, and why is it being championed by those with anti-trans sentiments?

Halima Jibril
May 19, 2025

Last Wednesday (May 14), more than 50 cross-party MPs backed an amendment proposing to “decriminalise” abortion in England and Wales. Put forward by Welsh Labour Party MP, Tonia Antoniazzi, the amendment seeks to remove “women from criminal law related to abortion” and would mean “no offence is committed by a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy”. MPs were set to vote on the amendment last summer, but parliament dissolved ahead of the 2024 general election.

The landscape of abortion in the UK is more complex than one might think. Abortion is technically “legal” in England, Scotland and Wales, and yet it is also a criminal offence. Below is an explainer on the 164-year-old law that makes abortion a criminal offence, what the amendment is fighting to change (and keep the same) and if activists and campaigners believe the amendment goes far enough in protecting people’s right to an abortion in the UK.

Continued: https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/66834/1/inside-the-fight-to-decriminalise-abortion-in-the-uk-england-wales