It’s official: No woman in England or Wales can be prosecuted for an abortion any more

Decriminalisation explained (and no, this does *not* mean 'abortion is now legal up until birth')

By Jennifer Savin
29 April 2026

After years of campaigning, England and Wales have officially decriminalised abortion for women in a “landmark moment” as part of proposed changes to the Crime and Policing Bill.

The government has now formally done away with the ancient Offences Against the Person Act from 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act of 1929, both of which saw women and girls open to arrest, investigation or prosecution in relation to procuring an abortion for themselves. Recent years have seen a worrying increase in criminal cases, after minimal incidences for decades, as more anti-abortion groups receive funding in the UK.

Continued: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a71163004/england-wales-decriminalise-abortion/

UK – MP behind abortion bill: My own experience inspires campaign

Tonia Antoniazzi, who has tabled an amendment to decriminalise abortions, said she kept a termination secret as she feared losing her job

Carlos Jasso for The Times, Sanchez Manning, Social Affairs Correspondent
Monday April 20 2026

Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi was a student when she had a first abortion and a language teacher at a school when she had her second. In her own words, what she went through was “terrible”.

She felt unable to seek help from her parents and, on her second termination, had to keep the procedure secret from her school employer in case she lost her job. She could only turn to her two brothers for support.

Continued: https://archive.is/yahCj
(https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/mp-abortion-bill-tonia-antoniazzi-crp7hb3kn)

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

The conversation around decriminalising abortion must be grounded in evidence

The future of abortion law and services must be guided by evidence, not swayed by anti-abortion rhetoric and misinformation, says Alison Wright

BMJ 2026; 392 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.s603
27 March 2026
Alison Wright, president of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

The House of Lords voted last week to support an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that removes the possibility of prosecuting women for ending or attempting to end their pregnancy.1 This is a landmark and long overdue moment for women’s healthcare in England and Wales. Yet in the days following the vote much of the public conversation has been shaped by alarming misinformation.2,3,4 Claims that this law reform would allow abortion “up to birth,” remove safeguards, or encourage more women to access abortion later in pregnancy are simply not true.

Continued: https://www.bmj.com/content/392/bmj.s603

27.03.2026

Commentary

Alison Wright

Crime and Policing bill

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

UK – Abortion decriminalisation – A significant step forward for women’s reproductive rights

Royal College of Nursing
Michael Nevill
23 Mar 2026

On the 18 March 2026, around midnight, the House of Lords voted on several key amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill that directly affect how abortion is legally framed in England and Wales.

This progress strongly aligns with the position of the RCN: that abortion care is healthcare, and women and clinicians must be supported and not criminalised, for making safe, evidence based decisions.

Continued: https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/Blogs/abortion-decriminalisation-230326

23.03.2026

Commentary

Clause 208

Crime and Policing bill

decriminalisation of abortion

Michael Nevill

Royal College of Nursing

UK – Lords vote to pardon women convicted of having an illegal abortion

Peers also rejected an attempt to overturn the move by MPs to decriminalise women terminating their own pregnancy.

Abbie Llewelyn
Thursday 19 March 2026

The House of Lords has backed a move to pardon women who have been convicted of having an illegal abortion.

The amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill would also apply to women who were cautioned and would remove the women’s details from police systems, regardless of the outcome of the case.

It comes after a landmark move by MPs in June last year to decriminalise women terminating their own pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mps-blackstone-sarah-mullally-bill-b2941478.html

19.03.2026

Crime and Policing bill

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Tonia Antoniazzi

who chairs the trustees of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

‘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

UK – Decriminalising abortion: how could the House of Lords amend the legislation?

After MPs voted last year to change the law in England and Wales, members of the Lords will now put forward proposed amendments

Hannah Al-Othman
Sun 15 Mar 2026

MPs voted last year to end the criminalisation of women who terminate pregnancies outside the legal framework. It was hailed as the biggest step forward for reproductive rights in England and Wales in six decades.

On Wednesday evening, abortion law will again come under the parliamentary spotlight when members of the House of Lords put forward their proposed amendments to the legislation.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/15/decriminalising-abortion-england-wales-lords-amendments

15.03.2026

News

abortion law reform

Centre for Women’s Justice

Crime and Policing bill

decriminalisation of abortion

How US groups are driving a new generation of anti-abortion activism in the UK

March 15, 2026

For 21-year-old John Alexander, being against abortion came before finding faith. As a teenager at school in Buckinghamshire, he was confused as to why most of his peers supported access to abortion. On social media he argued vocally against it.

Then, shortly after the pandemic, he became more interested in Christianity. He was raised in the Church of England (CofE), but thought the denomination was "dry" and involved "people sitting in pews not doing much". He was inspired by the young pastor at a Pentecostal Church which discussed social issues like abortion more than CofE churches, he says. He also watched social media videos of street preachers.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2dl5j0w23o

Law, Class and Compassion: Vera Drake and the Lived Reality of Illegal Abortion

13 February 2026
By Natalia Katolik and Somtochukwu Madumelu

On 28 January 2026 Durham CELLS and the Institute for Medical Humanities hosted an ‘Afternoon of Law, Medicine and Popular Culture’. We watched and the discussed the film Vera Drake, with introduction and talk from Dr Samantha Halliday.

The cinematic power of Mike Leigh’s Vera Drake (2004) lies in its commitment to "kitchen sink realism". Rather than treating abortion as a remote legal abstraction, Leigh grounds the narrative in the mundane details of 1950s working-class London. Muted greys, cramped interiors, and lingering domestic shots depict illegality as embedded within ordinary life. Vera Drake offers a compelling reflection on the disjunction between abortion law and the lived experiences of women subject to it.

Continued: https://www.durham.ac.uk/research/institutes-and-centres/ethics-law-life-sciences/about-us/blogs/cells-blog/law-class-and-compassion-vera-drake-and-the-lived-reality-of-illegal-abortion/

13.02.2026