A proposed change to abortion laws must be “workable and safe”, Downing Street said after MPs voted to decriminalise women terminating their own pregnancies in England and Wales.
The Commons voted by a majority of 242 to back Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill.
The issue was treated as a matter of conscience, with MPs given a free vote and the Government remaining neutral.
But Downing Street said that now MPs had made that decision, the Government had a responsibility to ensure that if it makes it to the statute book it is in an effective form.
The Bill still has further stages to go through in Parliament and changes could be made to the measures in the House of Lords.
A No 10 spokesman said: “We’ll look at this in detail, considering whether any changes are necessary to make it workable and safe.
“But, of course, this would not change the intent of the amendment passed.”
The spokesman added: “As with all laws, the Government has a responsibility to ensure it is safe and workable.”
Gower MP Ms Antoniazzi said the change will remove the threat of “investigation, arrest, prosecution or imprisonment” of any woman who acts in relation to her own pregnancy.
She pushed for the change in the law after cases of women being investigated by police over suspected illegal abortions.
Medics or others who facilitate an abortion after the 24-week time limit could still face prosecution if the change becomes law.
Though the Government took a neutral stance on the vote, several Cabinet ministers were among the MPs who backed the amendment.
They included Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Defence Secretary John Healey, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, Environment Secretary Steve Reed, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Scotland Secretary Ian Murray, Wales Secretary Jo Stevens and Commons Leader Lucy Powell.
Kemi Badenoch and many members of the Conservative frontbench voted against it, but shadow education secretary Laura Trott voted in favour.
Abortion in England and Wales currently remains a criminal offence unless with an authorised provider up to 24 weeks into a pregnancy, with very limited circumstances allowing one after this time, such as when the mother’s life is at risk or the child would be born with a severe disability.
It is also legal to take prescribed medication at home if a woman is less than 10 weeks pregnant.
Efforts to change the law to protect women from prosecution follow repeated calls to repeal sections of the 19th century law the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, after abortion was decriminalised in Northern Ireland in 2019.
Kate Ellis, joint head of litigation at the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: “It is high time that these outdated, Victorian laws were removed from the statute books.
“This proposed change in the law will only impact a relatively small number of women each year who find themselves – in already desperate circumstances – threatened with imprisonment for a criminal offence they probably didn’t know existed.”
The changes do not cover Scotland, where a group is currently undertaking work to review the law as it stands there.
