NC1 Statement – Abortion

I am a sponsor of Tonia Antoniazzi MP’s amendment, NC1. It properly addresses a long-standing injustice within our legal framework. That abortion remains a criminal offence under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act is unjustifiable and punitive. Our outdated legal system permits the current imposition of one of the harshest penalties for illegal abortion worldwide, including life imprisonment. This fails to recognise the complexities and vulnerabilities involved in such situations. 

There has been a disturbing increase in police investigations and prosecutions of women suspected of obtaining abortion medication outside of legal provisions in recent years. One woman recently endured more than four years under scrutiny before being found not guilty, while another was sentenced to 28 months in 2023, later reduced to a 14-month suspended sentence. 

I strongly back NC1 alongside many MPs across the political divide. 50 organisations, including medical royal colleges, trade unions, and women’s rights organisations, have also backed this. This is not a move to alter time limits, medical requirements, or provisions, but simply to ensure that vulnerable women are no longer criminalised. Those acting unlawfully, such as healthcare professionals violating regulations or abusive partners committing acts of coercion, would still be answerable in law. 

This new clause would align England and Wales with reforms already implemented in Northern Ireland in 2020, reflecting the progress made in nations such as France, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. It is time women were protected, not criminalised, by the law on abortion and this was acknowledged as a matter of healthcare, dignity, and fundamental rights.