The UK Parliament has approved an amendment that bans women from being prosecuted for having abortions after the legal limit. Abortions in England and Wales are prohibited after 24 weeks except in rare circumstances, such as risk to the life of the mother. Defenders of the amendment, however, argued it was “cruel” to prosecute women for violating the law. Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, cited how over 100 women were investigated by police for suspected illegal abortions over the past five years. In one example, a mother of three was sentenced to two years after medically inducing an abortion at 8 months. Her case was later reduced, and she was released. In another situation, one woman had natural miscarriages and stillbirths but was still investigated. “This piece of legislation will only take women out of the criminal justice system because they are vulnerable and they need our help. Just what public interest is this serving? This is not justice, it is cruelty and it has got to end,” said Antoniazzi. After being passed 379-137, the Amendment will head over to the House of Lords.

Critics of the Amendment have cited how abortion pills that were allowed to be ordered through the mail during the COVID-19 pandemic were used by women over 24 weeks pregnant to terminate their pregnancies. Alithea Williams, public policy manager for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, warned the amendment was just the beginning of stripping away protections of the preborn. “Unborn babies will have any remaining protection stripped away, and women will be left at the mercy of abusers,” she said.

In a statement, Williams accused the amendment of being rushed through Parliament and that the cited examples of women being prosecuted were being leveraged by pro-abortion lobbyists. “Our already liberal Abortion law allows an estimated 300,000 babies a year to be killed. Now, even the very limited protection afforded by the law is being stripped away. And this has been pushed by an abortion lobby cynically exploiting a situation that they brought about. The cases they use of women being prosecuted for abortion – a number in the single digits – came about because of a policy they championed – sending women abortion pills in the post without in person appointments.”  An amendment that would have prohibited doctors from being prosecuted for assisting with an abortion after the legal limit was not voted on. Another amendment that would have required in-person appointments to obtain abortion pills failed. The new amendment only impacts Wales and England as both Northern Ireland and Scotland have their own sets of rules regarding abortion.