‘Extreme’: UK House of Lords votes to decriminalize abortion up to birth

The United Kingdom’s House of Lords has advanced a major change to abortion law, rejecting efforts to remove a provision that eliminates criminal penalties for women who end their own pregnancies at any stage.

Peers voted 185-148 on March 18 to keep the measure in the government’s Crime and Policing Bill. The House of Commons already approved the clause, and lawmakers are unlikely to remove it before final passage.

The provision states “no offense is committed by a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy.” Supporters say it removes the threat of prosecution. Critics say it allows abortion up to birth without meaningful safeguards.

Conservative peer Baroness Monckton led an effort to strip the language, calling it a “radical proposal,” but peers rejected that amendment.

Lawmakers also rejected a proposal to restore in-person consultations before prescribing abortion pills. By a 191-119 vote, they kept a COVID-19 pandemic-era system allowing abortions at home without face-to-face oversight.

Peers also backed a measure to pardon women previously convicted of having late-term abortions.

Pro-life groups say the changes go far beyond public support on the issues.

Catherine Robinson of Right to Life UK said the policy shift breaks sharply from long-standing limits.

“The abortion up to birth clause is one of the most extreme pieces of legislation ever to pass the House of Commons and the House of Lords,” Robinson said.

She warned the change removes legal deterrents and could increase late-term abortions without medical supervision.

“Tonight’s vote means there will be no legal deterrent against a woman inducing her own abortion right up to full-term for any reason, including sex-selective abortions. A civilized society does not permit abortion up to birth,” she said.

Catholic and Anglican leaders raised concerns before the vote. Archbishop John Sherrington said the measure “could lead to the decriminalization of abortion for women, for any reason, up to the point of birth.”

He said the proposal threatens both unborn children and vulnerable women.

“The clause is not supported by the British public,” Sherrington said. “Apart from the further threat Clause 208 poses to the lives of unborn babies and the health of their mothers, this change would leave women more susceptible to coercion and abuse.”

Anglican Archbishop Sarah Mullally urged lawmakers to proceed carefully.

“The infinite value of human life is a fundamental Christian principle which underpins much of our legal system,” Mullally said.

She said the measure “undoubtedly risks eroding the safeguards and enforcement of those legal limits and inadvertently undermining the value of human life.”

Current law in England and Wales generally limits abortion to 24 weeks, with later procedures allowed only in rare cases. Critics say lawmakers pushed this change without voter approval or full scrutiny.

The bill now moves forward in Parliament, where final approval appears likely.