Debate on an e-petition relating to decriminalising abortion

E-petition 700014 closed on 4 May 2025 and received 103,653 signatures. It calls on the 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. 

Irene Campbell (Labour) will open the debate on behalf of the Petitions Committee. 

The government responded to the petition on 23 December 2024. It said: 

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.  

This debate pack contains information on abortion legislation and the regulation of abortion, together with stakeholder views, recent parliamentary material and useful links.