The House of Lords has voted to pardon women convicted of illegal abortions, in what campaigners are calling a 'landmark moment'. The decision came after an attempt to strike out a clause in the crime and policing bill was defeated.
The amendment, proposed by Labour backbencher Tonia Antoniazzi, had already been passed in the Commons last June. It ends the criminalisation of women who terminate pregnancies outside the legal framework, while keeping doctors and others who act outside the law liable to prosecution.
Peers voted to extend the clause to pardon women already convicted and to expunge police records of those arrested. Even when no charges are brought, abortion-related offences have been classed as violent crimes, meaning an arrest could appear on enhanced DBS checks.
An attempt to ban telemedicine for early medical abortions also failed. Campaigners welcomed the vote, noting it would bring relief to women who have faced investigations and lasting consequences on employment and travel.
Heidi Stewart of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service said the vote recognised the harm caused by outdated laws. Nikki Packer, cleared last year of illegal abortion, described the vote as 'the end of prosecutions, investigations and the trauma'.
