Press Release: Decriminalisation in party manifestos

WE ARE PLEASED TO NOTE THE LABOUR PARTY’S MANIFESTO includes the decriminalisation of abortion in the United Kingdom, and confirms the party’s position that women in Northern Ireland should have access to abortion locally.

This week, the Liberal Democrats also published their manifesto, which commits to decriminalisation and the implementation of buffer zones around clinics, as well as funding clinics to provide their services for free to all. The Green Party, meanwhile, mentions in its manifesto it will work to extend the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights to give women in all EU countries access to legal, safe and affordable abortion. 

Abortion Rights Chair Kerry Abel said: “Because of the hard work of pro-choice campaigning, decriminalisation – trusting women to have control of their own bodies – is now mainstream policy.”

Currently, England and Wales are governed by the archaic Offenses Against the Person Act of 1861. The 1967 Abortion Act allows women in the UK to access abortion under specific circumstances, provided they have the consent of two doctors. This law desperately needs to be reformed to correspond to contemporary society. A pregnant woman faces up to life in prison for attempting to “procure her own miscarriage”.