MPs vote to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in historic Commons vote
17 June 2025, 19:19 | Updated: 17 June 2025, 23:21
MPs have voted to add an amendment that would decriminalise abortion in a historic Commons vote late on Tuesday.
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The vote saw 379 MPs vote for the amendments, with Noes standing at 137.
It means the amendment tabled passed with a majority of 242 votes.
The vote means no woman will be prosecuted for ending their own pregnancy at any stage.
Tabled by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, the amendment would: "disapply existing criminal law related to abortion from women acting in relation to her own pregnancy at any gestation, removing the threat of investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment".
It was a free vote - MPs were not told how to vote by their parties.
Read more: Abortion has no place in criminal law—this is a matter of healthcare, not handcuffs
Under existing law in England and Wales - abortion is allowed up to the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. It is sometimes allowed beyond that in certain circumstances.
However, abortion is still deemed a criminal offence under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929. It also has to be approved by two doctors.
The amendment would prevent women from being prosecuted - but would mean medical professionals and violent partners who end a pregnancy outside the current law can still be punished.
It has been added to the government's flagship Crime and Policing Bill.
It will become law once that bill receives royal assent.
Ms Antoniazzi told MPs she had been moved to advocate for a change in the law having seen women investigated by police over suspected illegal abortions.
During the Bill’s report stage, Ms Antoniazzi assured her colleagues the current 24-week limit would remain, abortions would still require the approval and signatures of two doctors, and 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”.
On issues such as abortion, MPs usually have free votes, meaning they take their own view rather than deciding along party lines.
During a Westminster Hall debate earlier this month, justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said the Government is neutral on decriminalisation and that it is an issue for Parliament to decide upon.
