The House of Commons voted on amendments to abortion law last week. Despite causing a buzz on social media, none of the proposals directly affect Northern Ireland. As it happens, based on the amendment that did ultimately pass, coming changes will mean that the law in England and Wales is much closer to how things work here. Here FactCheckNI explains the vote in more detail.
MPs in Westminster voted last week to change abortion law in England and Wales, ending the criminalisation of anyone who ends their own pregnancy.
Decriminalisation is not the same thing as legalisation. The difference between the two can be subtle. In this case, while women and girls can no longer be criminalised for pursuing an abortion for themselves in any circumstances, the vote made no changes to regulations for medical professionals. It still remains illegal to provide abortion services to pregnant women in many circumstances.
The House of Commons vote has not changed the law in Northern Ireland. Instead, this legislation is set to bring England and Wales into line with Northern Ireland, which has had similar regulations since 2019.
For more details, read on.
- Methods of termination
There are two types of abortion in the UK – medical and surgical.
A medical abortion is pills taken at a clinic or at home if someone is under 10 weeks pregnant. A surgical abortion is performed in a hospital, typically after 10 weeks.
- Abortion law before the vote
In England and Wales, abortion is a criminal offence under sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, as well as section 1(1) of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 (which criminalises later abortions).
The Abortion Act 1967 established exceptions to these offences, allowing for abortions in specific and limited circumstances, namely that:
- Abortions must be signed off by two doctors.
- If they take place after 10 weeks of pregnancy they must be performed in a hospital or premises approved by the Secretary of State for Health (telemedicine is available up to 10 weeks).
- Individuals involved must meet one of a number of criteria.
The criteria outlined in #3 are different depending on what stage a pregnancy is at.
Up to 24 weeks gestation, abortions are permitted in cases where continuing the pregnancy would provide a greater risk “of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman (or any existing children of her family)” than any risk from termination of the pregnancy.
Beyond 24 weeks, abortion can be carried out if at least one of the following applies:
- Continuing the pregnancy would risk a woman’s life.
- There is a substantial risk that the baby would “suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped”.
- Termination is necessary “to prevent grave permanent injury” to a woman’s physical or mental health.
Any woman or girl who has an abortion outside of the terms of the 1967 Act is committing a criminal offence in England and Wales under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, which carries a maximum punishment of life in prison.
This could apply, for example, to a woman who orders abortion pills online without the permission of two doctors. Or to a woman who takes abortion medicine outside 24 weeks, having mistaken the length of time they were pregnant (as was the case with Nicola Packer, for example).
A briefing paper by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service gives examples of women who have been criminally investigated as a result of having premature or stillborn babies.
- What about Northern Ireland?
The Abortion Act 1967 was never extended to Northern Ireland. Abortion in NI, until very recently, was illegal, subject to very limited exceptions, and was incredibly difficult to access.
Changes in abortion law in Northern Ireland were introduced by the UK Government through Section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019. This repealed sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 in Northern Ireland and decriminalised abortion, meaning that women could not be prosecuted for ending their own pregnancies. This was a departure from the law in England and Wales at the time.
The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 established a new legal framework for abortion services in Northern Ireland, once again introduced by the UK Government. The 2020 regulations allow access to abortions up to 12 weeks (11 weeks and 6 days), certified by one medical professional, and allow abortions up to 24 weeks and beyond using similar criteria as England and Wales.
The Regulations were subsequently re-made as the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 and approved by both Houses of Parliament on 17 June 2020.
A more detailed overview of the legislative changes can be found in the Commons Library briefing on Abortion in Northern Ireland: recent changes to the legal framework.
- Last week’s vote
On 17 June 2025, a Crime and Policing Bill was debated and voted on in the House of Commons. This was a very broad Bill that made provisions about anti-social behaviour, offensive weapons, terrorism and national security amongst many other issues.
Three amendments to the Bill were put forward in relation to abortion law.
1. Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, proposed an amendment (New Clause 1 or NC1) to decriminalise abortion for the woman involved. It stated:
“For the purposes of the law related to abortion, including sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, no offence is committed by a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy.”
This would remove “the threat of investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment” to women who end their own pregnancy. In short, this is decriminalisation.
This amendment passed by a landslide, with 379 MPs in favour and 137 against.
2. Labour MP Stella Creasy put forward an amendment which went further than Antoniazzi’s, proposing to drop all abortion related clauses of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, and enshrine abortion access as a human right.
Although Creasy’s amendment secured the backing of 108 MPs before the debate, abortion providers such as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) did not think it was the right way to achieve “generational change”, and it did not go to a vote.
3. Conservative shadow health minister, Dr Caroline Johnson, put forward an amendment aimed at stopping telemedicine abortion (pills prescribed and posted) and requiring a pregnant woman to have an in-person consultation for a prescription.
This amendment was defeated, with 379 MPs voting against and 117 voting for.
The amended Crime and Policing Bill still needs to finish its legislative journey through both the Lords and the Commons before it can become law.
If it does complete its passage, laws in England and Wales will be brought in line with those in Northern Ireland. The law in Scotland is currently under review.
- Decriminalisation vs legalisation
In Northern Ireland, abortion has been decriminalised for women who end their own pregnancy.
As outlined above, this is not the same as legalisation as provision of abortion services is still restricted and/or a criminal offence under various scenarios, as outlined above.
For more information and discussion on the difference between decriminalisation and legalisation, read this publication from the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster. It concerns a different area of law – drug use – which provides a second practical illustration of how legalisation and decriminalisation are different things.
- Some discourse around the vote
Ahead of last week’s vote, FactCheckNI became aware of discussions circulating on various social media platforms about the various proposed changes to legislation, such as a campaign from the charity Right to Life.
The organisation’s website itself urged people to contact their MP ahead of the vote as part of an “emergency campaign” to prevent “abortion up to birth”.
It also contains various assertions or predictions about what might happen if and when Ms Antoniazzi’s amendment becomes law – for example, that “it 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.”
Research or other evidence to support this claim is not provided by the charity. Campaigning groups are not duty bound to provide proof of any assertions but here at FactCheckNI we think it’s broadly better when they do. Note also that the future can’t be fact checked.
Figure 2 – source: Right to Life
The Right to Life website does provide a pretty accurate and concise summary of what the vote was actually for:
“Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment … 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.”
However, as discussed above, the amendment in question does not provide blanket legalisation for abortion, nor does it allow any increased provision of abortion services. It is simply about removing criminal liability for a woman who has an abortion, and makes no changes to other legal (including criminal) restrictions on other people who might be involved in the process.
