In a landmark decision that marks a watershed moment for reproductive rights in England and Wales, the UK Parliament has voted to repeal portions of a Victorian-era statute dating back to 1861, effectively decriminalising abortion by preventing prosecution of women who terminate pregnancies outside the 1967 Abortion Act’s parameters. On June 17, 2025, MPs in the House of Commons approved an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill by a majority of 379 to 137—signalling the most significant overhaul of abortion legislation in nearly six decades.
Prior to this vote, the landscape surrounding abortion in England and Wales rested on a complex legal framework. The 1967 Abortion Act had permitted terminations up to 24 weeks when endorsed by two medical practitioners, and had supplanted earlier laws—derived from the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861—that criminalised abortion, punishable by life imprisonment. Yet those older statutes remained on the books. As a result, any abortion occurring outside the approved framework—such as in later gestations or without medical consent—could, and occasionally did, expose women to criminal investigation.
Campaigners had long called for the House of Commons to finally bring English and Welsh law into line with modern standards, pointing to Northern Ireland’s 2019 repeal of similar Victorian-era restrictions as precedent. They argued that retention of the archaic laws had led to troubling instances: more than one hundred women had been investigated under suspicion of illegal abortion since 2018, with six prosecuted in courts, including cases involving late miscarriages, stillbirths, and self-managed medication terminations during the COVID-19 pandemic . One case that galvanized public attention involved a woman prosecuted for using abortion pills during a lockdown, though her conviction was eventually reduced.
MP Tonia Antoniazzi, a Labour backbencher who spearheaded the amendment, condemned the prosecutions as “cruelty—not justice”, emphasizing that women enduring deeply traumatic experiences were being subjected to criminal proceedings under archaic legislation. Speaking in the Commons, she reminded lawmakers: “No woman facing one of the hardest moments of her life should face a criminal investigation.” The amendment does not alter the 24‑week statutory limit or the requirement for two medical sign‑off approvals; its sole focus is removing criminal liability from women themselves, not from healthcare providers.
Although there were a handful of dissenting voices—mostly from Conservative MPs and pro-life campaigners—who cautioned that decriminalisation could erode legal safeguards and potentially lead to an uptick in late-term abortions, supporters of the amendment rebutted such assertions. Medical professionals have clarified that established protocols and clinical oversight remain in place, and policymakers have pointed out that the vote does not open the door to unregulated abortion, only to the elimination of outdated criminal penalties.
This momentous shift comes amid broader legislative reforms. The same week witnessed MPs exercising free votes on equally contentious issues such as assisted dying, part of a wider agenda reshaping social policy under the current Labour government. The government’s decision to allow free votes provided political cover, enabling Labour leadership to avoid direct confrontation while still shepherding progressive changes through Parliament.
With the Commons having approved the amendment, the Crime and Policing Bill will now move to the House of Lords. Though peers generally cannot block the bill indefinitely, they may attempt to delay its passage. If the bill completes all stages, the decriminalisation measure is expected to be enacted into law later in the year .
Advocacy organisations, including the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and Cosmopolitan UK, which earlier this year launched campaigns such as “End 1861” to repeal Victorian abortion offences, have welcomed the result, declaring it an overdue reform of a legal system inconsistent with modern healthcare and gender equality norms.
Critics, including anti-abortion campaigners and some feminist voices, maintain concerns about diminished protections and potential side effects of the legal removal of penalties—especially around late-term medication. But driving the consensus within Parliament and among change advocates is the conviction that the threat of criminalisation has long hindered women’s healthcare, heightened stigma, and eroded trust in medical confidentiality.
In sum, the repeal marks a pivotal alignment of England and Wales with contemporary views of abortion as a matter of healthcare—not criminality—and positions the UK more closely alongside other European nations that have modernised their laws in recent decades. While the amendment does not expand access or alter existing regulations, it clears women of the threat of prosecution under laws nearly two centuries old, and signals a renewed political willingness to reexamine social legislation inherited from a bygone era.
