UNISON is supporting a legal change to abortion laws, which would make sure that women who end a pregnancy are met with compassion, not criminalisation.
In recent years, there has been a surge in women in England and Wales being criminally prosecuted on suspicion of ending their own pregnancy.
These prosecutions have happened under an outdated law from 1861, which was passed before women even had the right to vote.
Under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, having or providing an abortion remains a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Although this law has barely been used in the last two decades, there has been an upsurge in recent investigations and prosecutions, which have seen women facing years-long investigations, arrested straight from the hospital ward, having their homes searched, and their children taken away.
What is the law on abortion in Great Britain?
Women accessing abortion in Great Britain do so under the Abortion Act 1967. But this law did not decriminalise abortion – it simply made it legal in certain, fixed circumstances. Under current law, abortions must be signed off by two doctors, they must take place in a hospital or premises approved by the Secretary of State for Health, and women must meet one of seven criteria that allows abortion.
Any woman who undergoes an abortion without the permission of two doctors – for example by ordering pills online – can be prosecuted and receive a life sentence as her abortion takes place outside of the provisions of the Act.
UNISON is supporting a campaign led by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which would seek to change the law to ensure that abortion is treated as the healthcare procedure that it is, not a crime.
This would bring England and Wales into line with Northern Ireland, and much of the rest of the world. The specific laws that women are being prosecuted under were repealed for Northern Ireland by the Westminster government in 2019 and 2020.
UNISON members are encouraged to write to their MPs to support this amendment to the Policing and Crime Bill, which is currently moving through Parliament.
Email your MP to support the amendment
This amendment would ensure that vulnerable women in England and Wales would no longer be subject to years-long investigation, criminal charges, and custodial sentences for ending their own pregnancy.
Across the world, nearly 50 countries, provinces, and territories do not criminalise women who seek to end their pregnancy outside the law.
UNISON national women’s officer Bucky Akinwale said: “Abortion rights are women’s rights. As a union representing over a million women, UNISON is committed to defending the right of every woman to choose.”
