An MP has tabled an amendment to a Government Bill that would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, and at any point up to and during birth.
The amendment (NC1), tabled by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi to the Crime and Policing Bill, would likely lead to a significant increase in the number of women performing late-term abortions at home, endangering the lives of many more women.
The proposed change to the law would also lead to an increased number of viable babies' lives being ended well beyond the 24-week abortion time limit and beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb.
Antoniazzi's amendment does not outline circumstances in which it would continue to be an offence for a woman to perform her own abortion - the changes to the law would apply throughout all nine months of pregnancy and would not exclude sex-selective abortions.
By amending the abortion law in this way, self-abortions will, de facto, become possible up to birth for any reason including abortions for sex-selective purposes, as women could mislead abortion providers about their gestational age (as in the case of Carla Foster, who pretended to be 7 weeks pregnant but took pills at 32-34 weeks gestation).
Sex-selective abortion usually targets baby girls due to a preference among certain parents and some cultures for having sons.
The Government maintains that, under our current legislation, abortion on the grounds of the sex of the baby is illegal because it is "not one of the lawful grounds for termination of pregnancy" set out in the Abortion Act (which stipulates that abortion can only be performed under specific grounds).
However, since the amendment does not outline circumstances in which it would continue to be an offence for a woman to perform her own abortion, the changes to the law would not exclude sex-selective abortions.
The vast majority of the public does not support introducing abortion up to birth or sex-selective abortion
Polling undertaken by ComRes, which has undertaken polls for the BBC, ITV, The Independent and Sky News, shows that only 1% of women support introducing abortion up to birth and 70% of women would support a reduction in the time limit from 24 weeks to 20 weeks or below. 91% of women also oppose sex-selective abortion.
The same polling showed 60% of both Conservative and Labour voters supported a reduction in the time limit to 20 weeks or below. 65% of Liberal Democrat voters were in favour of a reduction in the abortion time limit to 20 weeks or below. Significantly, among those with children aged 18 or under in their household, 69% supported reducing the abortion limit to 20 weeks gestation or below.
The polling also showed that 89% of the general population oppose sex-selective abortion.
Polling published by the Daily Telegraph shows that more than half of the general public agree that it should remain the case that a woman is breaking the law if she has an abortion of a healthy baby after the current 24-week legal time limit up until birth. Only 16% disagreed.
A separate poll from Ipsos released in August 2023 shows that only 36% of the British population think abortion should be legal during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. This is a significant decrease in support for abortion up to 20 weeks from the previous year, conducted by the same polling organisation, where 40% of people in Great Britain thought abortion should be legal in the first 20 weeks.
Over 750 medical professionals have called for MPs to oppose making extreme changes to abortion legislation
Last year, over 750 medical professionals signed an open letter to MPs opposing the extreme change to the law that was proposed by Diana Johnson MP. The Antoniazzi amendment has been drafted to make similar changes to abortion legislation, but then goes even further than the Johnson amendment did in some areas.
In the open letter, the medical professionals warn "If offences that make it illegal for a woman to perform her own abortion at any gestation were repealed, such abortions would, de facto, become possible up to birth for any reason including abortions for sex-selective purposes, as women could mistakenly or wilfully mislead abortion providers about their gestational age".
They go on to highlight that extreme changes to the law would also likely lead to serious risks to women's health because of the dangers involved with self-administered late abortions.
"The Government's own recent review of abortion complications in England from 2017 to 2021 found that the complication rate for medical abortions that happen in a clinical setting is 160 times higher for abortions at 20 weeks and over compared with medical abortions under 10 weeks. The complication rate is likely to be far higher for women performing their own abortions at home without medical supervision well beyond the current 24-week time limit".
They have then urged Parliament to reintroduce in-person appointments rather than making the situation worse by introducing extreme changes to abortion legislation.
"We also urge Parliament to restore in-person appointments before women may be prescribed abortion pills in order to accurately assess their gestational age and health. This is an important part of safeguarding (to protect against coerced abortion) and would enable healthcare professionals to ensure it is both medically and legally appropriate for a woman to be prescribed abortion pills".
The UK already has an extreme abortion law - we don't need to make it worse
The UK abortion law is already extreme, with its time limit double that of the most common abortion limit among EU countries.
In most European Union (EU) countries, abortion is only legal on demand or on broad social grounds up to 12 weeks gestation, making legislation in the United Kingdom double the average among EU countries.
When compared to almost every European Union country, it is clear that the United Kingdom is an outlier.
Among the 27 countries that are member states of the European Union, three have a time limit for abortion on demand or on broad social grounds at 10 weeks, one country at 11 weeks, 15 countries at 12 weeks, 3 countries at 14 weeks and two countries only allow abortion in very limited circumstances.
Countries with 12-week limits for abortion on demand or on broad social grounds include Germany, Italy and Belgium as well as the more "liberal" Nordic countries Denmark and Finland. Even Sweden has a time limit for abortion on demand or on broad social grounds that is much lower than the United Kingdom at 18 weeks.
Pills by post
The real cause of the, albeit relatively small, recent number of cases of illegal late-term abortions is the 'pills-by-post' scheme, which was supported by Tonia Antoniazzi, Diana Johnson, Stella Creasy, and leading abortion providers BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices (Marie Stopes).
The change to the law proposed by Tonia Antoniazzi would make this situation worse, likely leading to more women self-administering abortion pills to procure late-term abortions, causing serious risks to their health (the return of the 'backstreet abortion').
Rather than making the situation worse and making our abortion laws even more extreme, Parliament ought to protect women by seeking the reinstatement of the requirement for in-person medical appointments to verify gestational age and assess a woman's health before abortion pills can be prescribed.
Carla Lockhart, MP for Upper Bann, introduced an Early Day Motion (EDM) to reinstate in-person appointments before a medical abortion as an important safeguard for the safety of women and to help prevent abortion coercion.
In an apparent reference to the tragic case of Carla Foster who had an illegal abortion at between 32 and 34 weeks gestation, the EDM noted that "recent illegal late-term abortions of viable unborn babies would not have been able to occur had in-person appointments to accurately assess gestational age been required".
The EDM was launched in support of the At Home Early Medical Abortion (Review) Bill, which was tabled in the House of Lords. The Bill specifically required the Government to review whether in-person medical appointments, during which the gestational age of the pregnancy can be accurately determined before an at-home abortion occurs, should be reinstated.
No To Abortion Up To Birth campaign launched
Tonight, pro-life organisation Right To Life UK has launched their nationwide 2025 No to Abortion Up to Birth campaign, focused entirely on stopping this attempt to hijack the Crime and Policing Bill.
The campaign website is now live, and it includes a simple EasyAction tool that makes it quick to email your MP and ask them to vote no to the Antoniazzi abortion up to birth amendment.
Right To Life UK is calling on people around the country to urgently contact their MP, along with mobilising friends and family to contact their MPs.
Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said "This amendment represents the biggest threat to the unborn since 1967 when abortion was first made legal".
"It would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, and at any point up to and during birth".
"The proposed law change would likely lead to a significant increase in the number of women performing late-term abortions at home, endangering the lives of many more women".
"It would also lead to an increased number of viable babies' lives being ended well beyond the 24-week abortion time limit and beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb".
"This is an extreme and inhumane proposal that must be defeated".
"We are calling on people around the country to urgently contact their MP and ask them to vote against this amendment".