CWJ welcomes the decision taken by a majority of MPs voting in the House of Commons on 17 June 2025 to end the criminalisation of women for ‘illegal’ abortions in England and Wales.
In response to Tuesday’s vote, Kate Ellis, Joint Head of Litigation at CWJ, 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“It is high time that these outdated, Victorian laws were removed from the statute-books.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. There is no reason to believe that a woman who has taken abortion tablets, knowingly or unknowingly outside of the legal limits, poses a risk to the public at large.
“Having supported numerous women who have been trapped in abusive relationships, we are also concerned that there will be women who feel coerced into terminating their pregnancy at the behest of a coercive and controlling partner, and may not always feel able to disclose this (or disclose it immediately to the police). These women are in sore need of support and protection, not criminalisation.”
ENDS