PRESS RELEASE: ABORTION IS NOT A CRIME: ABORTION RIGHTS ACTION OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT AS MPs DEBATE ABORTION LAW

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STARTS

📅 Tuesday 17 June
🕔 5–7pm
📍 Old Palace Yard, Parliament, London

Abortion is healthcare. Abortion is a human right. Abortion is still a crime in England and Wales—in 2025.

While MPs debate abortion law this week, people across the Britian are standing up to say enough is enough. Under a 164-year-old law, a woman in Britain can still be sentenced to life in prison for ending her own pregnancy. This is not fiction. This is happening—right now.

We’re gathering at Parliament to demand what the law still denies us: bodily autonomy without criminal punishment.

WHY WE’RE PROTESTING:

The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 still criminalises abortion.
The 1967 Abortion Act did not legalise abortion—only made it possible under strict, conditional exceptions.
Women are being prosecuted for miscarriages and abortions today. Some have gone to prison.
Prosecutions have risen 200% since 2002.

This is not healthcare. This is criminalisation.

“No one should face prison for ending a pregnancy. The fact that abortion is still in the criminal law in 2025 is a national disgrace. We need full decriminalisation—now. Abortion is healthcare, not a crime.”
— Kerry Abel, Chair of Abortion Rights

WHAT WE DEMAND:

Full decriminalisation of abortion—remove Sections 58 and 59 of the 1861 Act.
No more prosecutions—for women, pregnant people, doctors or supporters.
Regulate abortion as healthcare, like any other medical treatment.
Real access, not more gatekeeping: clinics, funding, education, and choice.

Abortion is not a crime. It’s time the law caught up.

Join us on Tuesday to say:
No more compromise. No more prosecutions. No more 19th-century laws controlling 21st-century bodies.

Stand with Abortion Rights.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Abortion Rights is the only grassroots pro-choice campaign in Britain, working for safe, free, legal and accessible abortion. Join today!
Carla Foster was sentenced to 28 months in prison in 2023 for using abortion pills beyond the legal limit. Her case received national and international media attention and sparked public outcry.
Under Sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, abortion remains a criminal offence in England and Wales unless specific exceptions under the 1967 Abortion Act are met.
MPs are expected to debate amendments related to abortion law during the passage of the Criminal Justice Bill in Parliament this week. While some amendments aim to reduce criminal penalties, they do not constitute full decriminalisation.
Protest details:
- Organised by a coalition of reproductive rights groups and activists.
- Visuals: protest banners, campaigners in costume, placards highlighting recent prosecutions.
- Speakers include campaigners, legal experts, and women directly affected by abortion law.

Media contact:
Kerry Abel, Abortion Rights Chair +44 7979 535242