‘Women have waited long enough’: Sunak’s election halts abortion decriminalisation as providers demand change

Rishi Sunak’s decision to call a snap election has dashed abortion providers’ hopes abortion will soon be decriminalised.

Cross-party MPs, including Labour’s Stella Creasy and Diana Johnson, had proposed amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill that would have decriminalised abortion that were due to be voted on in parliament on 4 June.

But the prime minister’s shock announcement the next UK general election will take place on 4 July means parliament will be dissolved on 30 May so the vote will not go ahead.

The Labour Party was contacted by The Independent but has yet to say whether, and in what form, it would revive the legislation, should Keir Starmer become prime minister.

Louise McCudden, of MSI Reproductive Choices, a leading UK abortion provider, said: “With rising investigations into vulnerable women accused of ending their own pregnancies outside the law, there has always been an urgency to making progress on reforming our unjust Victorian abortion laws.

“Now that parliament will dissolve for a general election, women facing these violating investigations will now have to wait even longer for reform - and with laws dating back to 1861, women have waited long enough.”

She urged all political parties to “engage in civil discourse, challenge misinformation and whatever their views on abortion, root their arguments in facts and evidence” as the UK heads into the election period.

Abortions can legally be carried out in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy in England, Scotland and Wales.

But pregnancy terminations must be approved by two doctors, with the health professionals agreeing that continuing with the pregnancy would be riskier for the physical or mental health of the woman than having an abortion.

If a medical professional delivers an abortion outside of the terms of the 1967 act, they are at risk of being prosecuted. Legislation passed in 1861 means any woman who ends a pregnancy without getting legal permission from two doctors can face up to life imprisonment.

Earlier this year, The Independent reported that Britain was on the verge of convicting as many women for illegal abortions in 18 months as it had in the previous 55 years, as the number of prosecutions continues to rise.

Dr Jonathan Lord, the medical director of MSI Reproductive Choices, said: “Women and girls are facing traumatic and prolonged criminal investigations following pregnancy loss and abortion in numbers never seen before.”

“A case this year was dropped, but the court heard how she had ‘suffered so extensively’ while she was grieving the loss of her baby and that a psychiatric examination had confirmed that the proceedings had had a profound effect on her. Another woman is facing trial in September for an alleged illegal abortion.”

Dr Lord, a consultant gynaecologist at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, warned many more women are now facing investigation after going through the trauma of a pregnancy loss.

“In several reported cases children have been removed from their family and contact banned or severely restricted, including where the child was still breastfeeding,” he added.

Dr Jonathan Lord, co-chair of the British Society of Abortion Care Providers, said some of those women currently under investigation for suspected illegal abortions are “distressed that this parliament won’t have an opportunity to help them and others”.

Dr Sonia Adesara, of the campaign group Doctors for Choice UK, added: “We are hugely disappointed that yet again, our politicians have failed to address this. Women’s health again deprioritised. Women should never be imprisoned for ending their pregnancies. We are calling on the political parties to make this a priority.”