Overview

• Two amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill are vying for selection: Tonia Antoniazzi’s text would decriminalise self-managed abortions at any gestation, while Stella Creasy’s would also lock in abortion access as a human right and shield all who assist from prosecution.
• Under current law, terminations require approval by two doctors before 24 weeks and remain a criminal offence thereafter; since the pandemic, home use of abortion pills up to ten weeks has coincided with over 100 police investigations and six court cases.
• Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is expected to pick only one amendment for a free vote, with Antoniazzi’s backed by more than 175 MPs and Creasy’s supported by around 110, though only one may be debated.
• Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has denounced both measures as "extreme," contrasting with endorsements from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the British Medical Association, which frame abortion as healthcare rather than crime.
• Abortions in England and Wales rose by 17% to over 250,000 in 2022, fueling calls from campaigners and major medical bodies to strip criminal penalties and focus on supportive care pathways.