A HISTORIC vote to decriminalise women terminating their own pregnancies has been passed by MPs.
Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill was supported, with MPs voting 379 to 137, majority 242.
The Gower MP stated that this measure will eliminate the risk of “investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment” for any woman who makes decisions about her own pregnancy.
A push for change came after she saw how women had been proved by cops over suspected illegal abortions.
MPs passed an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill with a majority of 242.
Under current law in England and Wales, abortion is allowed up to the first 24 weeks of pregnancy – and beyond that in certain circumstances.
Nevertheless, abortion remains illegal under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, requiring endorsement from two medical practitioners.
The result of the vote has not become official law as of yet.
But it has been added to the government’s flagship Crime and Policing Bill that is making its way through parliament.
It will then become law once that bill receives royal assent.
At the Bill’s report stage, Ms. Antoniazzi confirmed to her peers that the existing 24-week restriction would stay in place and that abortions would continue to necessitate the consent and signatures of two doctors.
Fellow Labour MP Stella Creasy said she faced “unforgivable abuse” outside Parliament ahead of the vote.
The Labour MP also maintained that healthcare professionals “acting outside the law and abusive partners using violence or poisoning to end a pregnancy would still be criminalised, as they are now”.
On issues such as abortion, MPs usually have free votes, meaning they take their own view rather than deciding along party lines.
During a Westminster Hall debate earlier this month, justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said the Government is neutral on decriminalisation and that it is an issue for Parliament to decide upon.
