Britain’s upper chamber has backed one of the most sweeping liberalisations of abortion law in Europe, voting down a last-ditch attempt to block the decriminalisation of the procedure up to birth.
Peers in the House of Lords rejected an amendment to remove the provision from the government’s Crime and Policing Bill by 185 votes to 148 on Wednesday night, clearing the way for the change to move forward.
The clause—already approved by MPs in the House of Commons last year—removes criminal penalties for women who terminate their own pregnancies at any stage.
The effort to strip it out was led by Conservative peer Baroness Monckton, who warned it amounted to a “radical proposal.” Her amendment failed despite concerns that the change could lead to more late-term abortions taking place without direct medical oversight.
In a separate vote, peers also rejected a move to restore mandatory in-person consultations before abortion pills are prescribed. By 191 votes to 119, the Lords opted to retain the pandemic-era system allowing early abortions to be managed at home.
The chamber also backed a proposal to pardon women previously convicted of ending their own pregnancies.
Catherine Robinson of the pro-life group Right to Life described the clause as “one of the most extreme pieces of legislation ever to pass the House of Commons and the House of Lords.”
It is a travesty that such an enormous and terrible legislative change, which will directly endanger the lives of unborn babies well beyond the point at which they would be able to survive outside the womb, as well as the lives of their mothers, has been allowed to happen.
Polling by Savanta ComRes suggests public support for abortion up to birth is extremely limited, at around one per cent.
Under the current framework in England and Wales, abortion remains a criminal offence but is permitted under strict conditions—generally up to 24 weeks, with later procedures allowed only in exceptional circumstances, such as when the mother’s life is at risk.
The new measure marks a clear break with that system, and one that was not put to voters. The bill must still complete its remaining stages, but there is little expectation that MPs will now remove the clause.
Nick Hallett is an assistant news editor for europeanconservative.com. He has previously worked as a journalist for Breitbart and as the online editor for The Catholic Herald.
