U.K. Parliament bans women from being prosecuted for late-term abortion

LONDON — In the biggest reform to British abortion laws in nearly 60 years, members of Parliament have voted to decriminalize some late-term abortions — at a time when many of their U.S. counterparts are moving in the other direction, to limit the procedure.

In a landslide vote late Tuesday, lawmakers in the lower house of British parliament, the House of Commons, endorsed new legislation that bars women in England and Wales from ever being investigated, arrested, prosecuted or imprisoned for terminating their own pregnancies — no matter what term or trimester they're in. The vote was 379 to 137.

Abortion is allowed up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, and beyond that in certain cases, if the woman's life is in danger. But abortions have to be approved by two doctors, except for those that are terminated at home within 10 weeks.

Women who've ended their pregnancies outside those rules — for example by buying pills online and taking them at home, during the third trimester — have in some cases been prosecuted.

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/18/g-s1-73294/uk-parliament-bans-women-prosecuted-late-term-abortion