More than 50 cross-party MPs back amendment to decriminalise abortion

An amendment proposing to decriminalise termination has been tabled successful parliament, backed by a radical of much than 50 cross-party MPs.

Put guardant by the MP Tonia Antoniazzi, it is supported by respective of her Labour colleagues including John McDonnell, Nadia Whittome, Jess Asato and Antonia Bance.

It has the backing of Liberal Democrats including Christine Jardine, Wera Hobhouse and Daisy Cooper, arsenic good arsenic the Green party’s Siân Berry and Carla Denyer, Sorcha Eastwood from the Alliance party, and Liz Saville-Roberts and Llinos Medi from Plaid Cymru. Conservative MP Caroline Dineage besides added her sanction to the amendment, arsenic good arsenic Claire Hanna from the SDLP.

Antoniazzi’s amendment seeks to region “women from the transgression instrumentality related to abortion”, and would mean “no offence is committed by a pistillate acting successful narration to her ain pregnancy”.

It would mean women would nary longer beryllium criminalised nether the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, the portion of Victorian authorities that astir caller termination cases person been prosecuted under.

Nor would they beryllium criminalised nether the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, which carries the offence of “child destruction”.

The amendment, to the government’s transgression and policing bill, follows connected from 1 the Labour MP Diana Johnson, present a Home Office minister, had attempted to enactment guardant to the past Conservative government’s transgression justness bill, but which was ne'er voted connected arsenic the authorities fell due to the fact that a wide predetermination was called.

Antoniazzi said she had enactment guardant the amendment due to the fact that a alteration successful the instrumentality “is necessary”.

“We’ve seen a crisp emergence successful the fig of women and girls facing transgression investigations pursuing gestation nonaccomplishment and abortion,” she said. “It’s conscionable incorrect to enactment women successful this situation, to enactment them into the transgression justness system, due to the fact that this is not a transgression instrumentality issue, this is fundamentally a healthcare matter.”

She added: “I find it unbelievable that successful the past 5 years, astir 100 women person been investigated by the police. It’s conscionable wrong. It’s a discarded of taxpayers’ money, it’s a discarded of the judiciary’s time, and it’s not successful the nationalist interest. Therefore, the instrumentality has to change.”

The astir caller pistillate to beryllium prosecuted, Nicola Packer, 45, spent astir 5 years waiting for her lawsuit to travel to court, earlier being unanimously cleared by a assemblage astatine Isleworth crown tribunal past week. Antoniazzi attended tribunal for a time of the proceedings with her workfellow Tracy Gilbert MP to enactment Packer.

“I deliberation it is, it is utterly, utterly disgraceful that she was enactment successful this position, and shame connected those radical that brought this lawsuit forward,” Antoniazzi said.

The amendment, which if passed could go instrumentality arsenic aboriginal arsenic this summer, mirrors Johnson’s erstwhile amendment, Antoniazzi said, and “doesn’t alteration thing astir the proviso of termination services”.

Rather than seeking to make a caller framework, it retains the existing termination law, she said: “There’s nary alteration to clip limits, and besides however women entree care, the request for 2 doc signatures.”

A alteration to the instrumentality is being supported by nonrecreational bodies including the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Nursing, and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

“This is simply a elemental amendment that looks aft women, which is our main purpose here, to marque definite that they are not criminalised for thing that is not successful the nationalist interest,” Antoniazzi said.

“It’s successful their involvement that we marque definite that these women get the close support, the close help, and are not reported to the constabulary for a gestation loss, a miscarriage, oregon a concern that they find themselves successful that has go impossible,” she added.

“These women are vulnerable. They request our help, and they don’t merit to person their lives ruined.”