U.K. Parliament bans women from being prosecuted for late-term abortion

LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 17: Protesters from pro-choice group ‘Abortion Rights’ watch Alex Davies-Jones, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, talk in the House of Commons as they gather near Parliament, where MPs are voting on the decriminalisation of abortion on June 17, 2025 in London, United Kingdom. In a free vote held in Parliament on Tuesday, MP’s are considering two separate amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, brought forward by Labour MPs Tonia Antoniazzi and Stella Creasey, which both seek to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales. Although abortion is allowed up to 24 weeks under certain criteria laid out in the 1967 Abortion Act, women can still be prosecuted for terminating pregnancies under the Victorian-era ‘Offences Against the Person Act’ which makes it a crime for a woman to “procure her own miscarriage.” (Photo by Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images)