Abortion has no place in criminal law—this is a matter of healthcare, not handcuffs

17 June 2025, 17:13

Criminalising abortion is causing real harm—it's time the law caught up with public opinion.

Many people do not realise that abortion remains a criminal offence in this country. Women accessing abortion do so under the Abortion Act 1967.

But this law did not decriminalise abortion – it simply made it legal in certain, fixed circumstances. Under current law, abortions must be signed off by two doctors, they must take place in a hospital or premises approved by the Secretary of State for Health, and women must meet one of seven criteria that allow abortion.

Any woman who undergoes an abortion without the permission of two doctors – for example, by ordering pills online – can be prosecuted and receive a life sentence, as her abortion takes place outside of the provisions of the Act.

In recent years, record numbers of women are being investigated for suspected illegal abortions in England and Wales. This includes women who have had stillbirths or miscarriages, under what authorities deem to be ‘suspicious’ circumstances.

Women are facing years-long investigations, being arrested straight from the hospital ward, having their homes searched, and having their children taken away. In 2021, a 15-year-old girl was investigated by police after a stillbirth at 28 weeks.

She was accused of an illegal abortion and was put through a year-long investigation; her laptop and phone were confiscated for analysis over her GCSEs.

This concluded with the coroner finding that her pregnancy had ended due to natural causes. The same year, another woman was arrested and kept in a police cell for 36 hours after a stillbirth at 24 weeks, due to suspicions she had used abortion pills past the legal limit.

More than 100 women are believed to have been investigated by the police in recent years under archaic abortion law.

Six women have been taken to court, and one woman has received a prison sentence. Myself and many other healthcare professionals believe this is wrong. Women should not be arrested or imprisoned for choosing to end a pregnancy.

The current law pertaining to abortion dates back to the 1800s. When it is enforced, this law can carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. It's this which I, and many other healthcare professionals, believe needs urgent reform. It is cruel, outdated, out of step with modern society, and is causing horrendous harm to women and their loved ones.

I can't think of a single circumstance in which it is in anyone's best interest to imprison a woman for having an abortion.

The vote today will not change how we provide abortion care in this country, or how women access abortion. It will not change time limits. Women would still have to meet one of the grounds laid out in the Abortion Act 1967, and non-consensual abortion would remain a crime at any gestation.

The vote today, if passed, will ensure that vulnerable women in England and Wales would no longer be subject to years-long investigations, criminal charges, and custodial sentences for ending their own pregnancy outside the law.

Women who are seeking an abortion need to be supported and shown compassion, not treated like criminals. If passed, this vote could signal a monumental shift in reproductive care for women.

The majority of people in this country are pro-choice, and I firmly believe that most people do not want to see women prosecuted for trying to end a pregnancy. Now, let's get the law in step with public opinion.

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Sonia Adesara is an NHS doctor and campaigner.

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