Decriminalise Abortion
- Parliament:
- 2024–present
- Signatures:
- 103,653
- Responded:
- 23 Dec 2024
- Department:
- Ministry of Justice
The petition
I am calling on the UK government to remove abortion from criminal law so that no pregnant person can be criminalised for procuring their own abortion.
The U.K is out of step with World Health Organization who in 2022 recommended that barriers to abortion such as criminalisation, or approval of others or institutions should be removed. Amnesty International state that abortion is a human rights issue.
The government's response
All women have a right to access to safe, legal abortions on the NHS.
All women have access to safe, legal abortions on the NHS both in a medical setting and at home, where eligible. In England and Wales, the Abortion Act 1967 defines the criteria under which legal terminations can take place. The criminal law in relation to procuring an abortion is contained in the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, in particular sections 58 and 59. At this moment the Government has no plans to make changes to these Acts.
Ministry of Justice
Highlighted: the sentence the model picked as the strongest evidence cited.
Debate
Debated in Parliament on 2 Jun 2025. This is shown for context and is not part of the assessment.
Of 19 MPs who spoke in their own right, 12 were for the petition, 0 neutral and 7 against. The government's response: declines.
- For
- Neutral
- Against