A vote on decriminalising abortion past 24 weeks is set to go ahead next month in a landmark ruling.
Under current laws, a pregnancy can be terminated with the consent of two doctors up to a 24-week limit.
Abortions after this are considered a criminal offence in England and Wales, under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.
Women could be jailed if they undergo an abortion outside these conditions.
Under current laws, a pregnancy can be terminated with the consent of two doctors up to a 24-week limit
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The majority of MPs believe that women should no longer be prosecuted, a poll by abortion provider BPAS showed.
MPs are expected to vote on an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill that would reject the 1861 law which applies to women who end their own pregnancies.
They will be given a free vote – based on their own beliefs rather than party policy – as abortion-related issues are a matter of conscience.
Since 2019, around 100 women have faced police investigations into pregnancy terminations.
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The surge in prosecutions comes as pandemic-era laws meant women had access to abortion medication without seeing a doctor in person.
In the past year, six women have appeared in English courts charged with illegally obtaining an abortion.
Many women investigated included those who said that they lost their pregnancy naturally, through a miscarriage.
A change in the law would see England and Wales follow Northern Ireland where abortion was decriminalised in 2019.
Dame Diana Johnson has said that abortion should be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal issue
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Dame Diana Johnson, who is putting forward the amendment, has said that abortion should be treated as a health issue rather than a criminal issue.
“Vulnerable women are being threatened with jail using a law from the Victorian era, which was passed before women even had the right to vote or sit as MPs,” she told The Times.
“Parliament has moved on and society has moved on.”
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