Overview

• Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi has tabled an amendment backed by over 50 cross-party MPs to remove women from criminal liability under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act and the 1929 Infant Life (Preservation) Act.
• Stella Creasy, another Labour MP, has introduced a parallel amendment to repeal sections of the 1861 Act and establish a human rights framework while retaining the 24-week limit for terminations.
• The amendments aim to address the recent rise in prosecutions of women under Victorian-era abortion laws, with over 100 police investigations reported in the past five years.
• Major medical bodies including the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists support decriminalisation, framing abortion as a healthcare issue rather than a criminal matter.
• The proposed changes follow high-profile cases like Nicola Packer's recent acquittal, which have intensified calls to modernise abortion legislation in England and Wales.