Update on abortion law reform in Scotland

The Scottish government is planning to reform abortion law. An expert group was set up in 2024 and its recommendations were published in November 2025.

Royal College of Nursing
25 Jun 2026

The Scottish government asked key stakeholders, including the RCN, to share views on the 36 recommendations that set out what reforms the expert group think the Scottish government should make. Our feedback will be used by the Scottish government to inform their next steps, and we expect the government to publish its proposals for abortion reform later this year or early 2027.

Most of the 36 recommendations made by the expert group are in keeping with RCN’s positions on abortion law reform. Our positions focus on the right to choose; access to safe care; the right to conscientious objection except in an emergency; and that abortion is governed by regulatory not criminal law.

Continued: https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/news/abortion-law-reform-250626

25.06.2026

Commentary

abortion law reform

ANdrew Jackson

Royal College of Nursing

Sarah Game’s bill restricting late-term abortion access voted down in lower house

By Thomas Kelsall
June 17, 2026

South Australia’s lower house has voted down a bill to restrict access to late-term abortion, after the legislation had earlier passed the upper house.

The bill was defeated 36 votes to 9 shortly after 9:30pm ACST, following less than two hours of debate. Only 12 of the 47 MPs in the lower house spoke on the bill.

Continued: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-17/abortion-bill-voted-down-in-lower-house/106808360

Ireland – Dáil rejects Social Democrats abortion reform Bill

Two Government Ministers abstain while three backbenchers support move to committee stage

Marie O’Halloran
Wed May 13 2026

The Social Democrats abortion reform Bill was defeated in the Dáil on Wednesday by 85 votes to 30, with 36 abstentions, including all Sinn Féin TDs.

Government TDs had a free vote on the Reproductive Rights (Amendment) Bill as a matter of conscience.

While a majority rejected the legislation, Fine Gael TDs Grace Boland and Barry Ward voted in favour of moving the Bill to committee stage, as did Fianna Fáil TD Catherine Ardagh.

Continued: https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/oireachtas/2026/05/13/free-vote-matter-of-conscience-for-government-tds-on-abortion-reform-bill/

MALAWI – Divergent views over abortion referendum

By Pemphero Malimba
22 Apr 2026

Debate has emerged over renewed calls for a referendum to decide whether Malawi should proceed with reforms to the legal framework governing abortion.

Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, Anthony Masamba, has made the proposal.

Continued; https://www.pressreader.com/malawi/the-daily-times-malawi/20260422/281586657184049

22.04.2026

Centre for Human and Rehabilitation

Maziko Matemba

Michael Kaiyatsa

Termination of Pregnancy Bill

Korea decriminalized abortion 7 years ago. For many women, it remains a dangerous choice.

The Hankyoreh reviewed years’ worth of court cases to understand how the failure to enshrine the right to abortion in law and normalize it as standard health care has affected Korean women who chose to terminate their pregnancies

April 13, 2026

Min-ji underwent two abortions while in a relationship with Young-ho in 2020 and 2021. The decision to terminate the pregnancies was reached by mutual consent. However, after the couple split, Young-ho changed drastically, going so far as to plaster Min-ji’s workplace with posters that accused her of being a “murderer who killed two children.”

After having an abortion in January 2022, Ye-eun refused to engage in sexual relations with her partner, Cheol-su, only for him to threaten to notify her family and her school of her past pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1253991.html

Isle of Man – More than 1,200 abortions on Island since change in law

Sunday, 22 March
Department of Health and Social Care

More than 1,200 abortions have been carried out on the Isle of Man since a change in the law in 2019.

The Abortion Reform Act, which came into force almost seven years ago, allowed women on the Island to request to terminate their pregnancy. Previously, women could only seek an abortion under strict criteria, or would have to travel off Island.

Figures published by the health minister show 1,240 procedures have been undertaken since the legislation was brought in.

Source: https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/more-than-1200-abortions-on-island-since-change-in-law/

22.03.2026

‘Peers must follow MPs and end the cruel criminalisation of women over abortion’

17th March, 2026
Tonia Antoniazzi MP

165 years ago women didn’t have the vote, married women couldn’t own their own property, and marital rape was legal. It’s also how long ago a law was passed that continues to define abortion as a criminal offence in England and Wales.

This law has seen women targeted, punished, imprisoned, dragged from hospital beds to police cells, publicly shamed – mothers torn from their existing children and new babies – following complications in their abortion treatment, miscarriage, stillbirth or premature labour. More than 100 women have been criminally investigated since 2020, six have faced court and one has been sent to prison for abortion offences.

Continued: https://labourlist.org/2026/03/peers-must-follow-mps-and-end-the-cruel-criminalisation-of-women-over-abortion/

17.03.2026

Opinion

abortion law reform

Crime and Policing bill

Abortion law reform in Germany amid democratic backsliding

Germany recently passed incremental liberalisations to its abortion law. Yet access to abortion remains under threat, and far-right and conservative forces blocked its partial legalisation. Lisa Brünig explains how these processes are symptomatic of broader democratic backsliding

Lisa Brünig
March 10, 2026

In 2022, America's top court overturned the 1973 ruling guaranteeing women the right to abortion. In Poland, despite the efforts of Donald Tusk's Civic Coalition, abortion is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.

Germany's government, by contrast, recently took steps to liberalise the country's abortion laws. In 2022, it abolished paragraph 219a, which prohibited doctors and clinics stating on their websites that they provided abortions. In 2024, Germany also criminalised harassment outside clinics and counselling centres. Despite these incremental legal changes, however, abortion remains criminalised under Germany's Penal Code, and structural barriers to abortion care persist..

Continued: https://theloop.ecpr.eu/abortion-law-reform-in-germany-amid-democratic-backsliding/

Faroe Islands scraps one of Europe’s strictest abortion laws

Dec 4, 2025
Adrienne Murray

The parliament of the Faroe Islands voted on Thursday to legalise abortion until the end of the 12th week of pregnancy, overturning a decades-old law that prohibited abortions in most cases.

Previous legislation allowed abortions only in certain circumstances - such as rape, incest or risk to the health of the pregnant woman - and meant the self-governing Danish territory had among the most restrictive abortion policies in Europe.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyd8j71m7mo

05.12.2025

News

abortion law reform

Amnesty International

Bjørt Lind

Centre for Reproductive Rights

It’s Time To Scrap Zimbabwe’s Outdated Abortion Law – Molokele

By Lovemore
26 November 2025

Hwange Central MP Daniel Molokele (CCC) has called for the repeal of the 1977 Termination of Pregnancy Act, describing it as one of the most backward laws in Zimbabwe.

Molokele made the comments at a press conference in Harare on Tuesday, which marked the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign.

Continued: https://news.pindula.co.zw/2025/11/26/its-time-to-scrap-zimbabwes-outdated-abortion-law-molokele/

26.11.2025