MPs have voted to decriminalise abortion in the UK
MPs have voted 379 to 137 to decriminalise late term abortion in England and Wales in an amendment to the government's Crime and Policing Bill.
It was already legal to have an abortion before 24 weeks of pregnancy had passed, but save for certain circumstances it became a criminal offence beyond that point.
The amendment was brought up by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who said it would remove the threat of 'investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment' from a woman getting an abortion after the limit.
This vote means that the 24-week limit will remain and abortions will still require the signatures of two doctors, though getting a late term abortion will now be decriminalised for the woman getting it.
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Antoniazzi said 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'.
The MP said that those seeking an abortion after 24 weeks were 'desperate women' who needed 'compassion not criminalisation'.
She added that she'd been moved to support a change in the law after seeing women investigated by the police on suspicion of having illegal abortions.
Antoniazzi said that around 99 percent of abortions occur before 20 weeks of pregnancy, and that only around one percent of women sought out late term abortions.
Politicians were given a free vote so they could choose according to their conscience and not along party lines, leading to a significant majority of MPs backing the calls for decriminalisation.
"Each one of these cases is a travesty, enabled by our outdated abortion law," Antoniazzi said.
"Originally passed by an all-male parliament elected by men alone, this Victorian law is increasingly used against vulnerable women and girls."
Women seeking late term abortions had been facing a criminal offence 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, but now will not be criminalised from seeking it.
Fellow Labour MP Stella Creasy asked why people would wish to cleave to old laws 'in any shape or form, rather than learning from what is best practice around the world for all of our constituent'.
The BBC reports that decriminalising late term abortion has the support of all main abortion providers and 50 other organisations including the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).
The success of this amendment was criticised by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, who called it an 'extreme and dangerous proposal' as they said it would 'effectively decriminalise abortions'.
Joe Harker