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The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Tampering with abortion law could make things worse
However, a legal academic has told The Herald he is concerned changes to the law may risk making the situation worse for women the legislation could affect. Read more: From 19th century to present day: Abortion laws in Scotland Why Scotland must press on with abortion law reform Last week, MPs voted for an amendment to the Crime and Policing bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Put forward by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, the NC One amendment seeks to remove women from long-standing legislation the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 in relation to their own pregnancies, which criminalise abortion. This will become law if the provision remains unamended by the Lords during its forthcoming scrutiny of the bill. However, this does not include Scotland as abortion law is devolved. In England and Wales, the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 criminalises anyone who uses instruments or administers 'poisons' to a woman with intent to cause her to miscarry. In Scotland, abortion is governed under Common Law, however, there remains widespread confusion and uncertainty over whether a woman could be prosecuted as they have been in England. Under common law, while prosecution of women and pregnant people seems unlikely, legal academic Dr Lynsey Mitchel argues that 'it is not something that can be guaranteed.' As a result, the Scottish Labour MP, alongside other Scottish Labour MPs including Lillian Jones and Joani Reid, is pushing for change north of the border. Ms Murray told The Herald: 'There is a presumption that abortion is not a criminal offence in Scotland. It still is, it's just a different piece of legislation. It is still there within common law. 'It is something that can't be forgotten about. There is a time limit on this government of May next year and the legislative time that is there is running down.' The MP said she was pleased the amendment was voted through by MPs last week down South. 'Whilst it affects a really small number of women, it is really fundamental to their lives. Families have been completely destroyed as a result of having to go through a criminal justice system,' Ms Murray said. However, for Strathclyde University legal academic Jonathan Brown, the concern is that "tampering" with such legislation through pursuing a route of decriminalisation could negatively impact women here. Dr Brown told The Herald: 'There's a lot of well-meaning people talking about decriminalisation but they don't really know what the law in Scotland is and they are actually liable to make things worse if they go tampering with it.' He said the UK Abortion Act passed in 1967 provides a 'prime example' that the laws around abortion in Scotland should not be changed. The academic pointed out that before 1967, only one doctor was required to authorise the termination of a pregnancy but following the act that year, there is now a requirement of two doctors. 'What you've got if you start tampering with the law is a real possibility that you make things worse. It's happened before and it's likely to happen again,' he said. However, he did say legislation such as the Concealment of Birth Scotland Act 1809 should be abolished. Between 1922 and present day, The Herald understands five women have been prosecuted under this 1809 statute in Scotland. 'The 1809 Act is problematic." Dr Brown said, "It's created situations in which the woman is convicted on the same evidence that sees the provider acquitted. 'If you abolish it, what happens is it no longer makes a carve out in cases of murder which sees women being prosecuted and convicted on the basis of less evidence." Asked what he would say to anyone calling for decriminalisation in Scotland, Dr Brown urged them to consider other reforms. 'This a good opportunity to explore the possibility of repealing the 1809 act as we need to be clear that the law relating to abortion in Scotland is completely unlike the law in the rest of the UK," he said, "You can't assume that what works for another part of the UK will work for Scotland." Asked what she wants to see in Scotland, Ms Murray told The Herald: 'I want to get to a stage where we get consistency in the law in all four countries of the UK. "We've now potentially got decriminalisation in England and Wales. We need Scottish law to catch up. 'It needs to happen before the Scottish Parliament elections in 2026.' Given the time it takes for legislation to be passed, the Scottish Labour MP admitted the the ability to do this would be difficult. Ms Murray said: 'It's recess now and it's not back till the beginning of September so this is absolutely something we need to get a move on with.' The Labour MP said another major concern for her is that some women are forced to travel from Scotland to England to receive an abortion. One woman every four days has to make the journey to access abortion care because no health board north of the border provides care up to the legal limit of 24 weeks' gestation. "This is provision needs to be there," Ms Murray said, "There is now a life-threatening concern." For BPAS, decriminalisation of abortion should form a part of wider reform of abortion laws in Scotland. 'I feel like it would be in everyone's interest to have clarity that you can't prosecute women or doctors under Common Law,' said Rachael Clarke, head of advocacy for BPAS. Ms Clarke agrees with the legal academic Dr Brown that the 1809 act is an issue but she says the bigger issues in Scotland are around provision of and access to abortion services. In Scotland, you can only have a termination after 20 weeks in cases where there is either a foetal abnormality or the woman's life is at risk. 'In Scotland what we really need is abortion law reform because the care that can be provided to women is in line with the 1967 act, it's not in line with international best practice and it limits the kind of care that women can get and as a result we need change. 'Off the back of what's happening in England and Wales, this is an impetus for reform not for doing exactly the same thing in Scotland.' The Scottish Government has set up an expert group to review the law on abortion and advise on whether it should be changed. The Herald understands proposals from the group are expected to be published in late August or early September.
Cosmopolitan
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Cosmopolitan
Women are *finally* no longer at risk of being prosecuted when it comes to abortion
Tonight (17 June 2025), MPs voted in favour of removing women from criminal law in relation to procuring an abortion in England and Wales, via an amendment to the Crime and Policing bill tabled by Labour MP, Tonia Antoniazzi. Once passed, this will finally put a stop to the criminalisation of people who have abortions and do away with an archaic law – the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act – which was created before women even had the right to vote. This change follows a long-running campaign by the country's leading abortion providers, BPAS and MSI, and more than thirty other organisations such as the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists and us here at Cosmopolitan UK. In the end, 379 MPs voted in favour of passing the amendment and 137 voted against it, giving a majority of 242. The change does not come into effect immediately but ought to do so after the bill becomes a law and has received royal assent, something expected to happen given Labour's majority. Ahead of the amendment passing, England and Wales had the world's most severe penalty for women found guilty of having an illegal abortion, carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison. Once the changes set out in the bill come into play formally, England and Wales' abortion law will be in line with that of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Northern Ireland and Ireland. The framework through which abortion is accessed – including the 24-week time limit, the option to have a pills-by-post termination, and the requirement for two doctors to sign off on the procedure – all remain firmly in place. Sadly, this has not stopped anti-abortion groups from falsely labelling this law reform as 'advocating for abortion up until birth'. Speaking about why the issue was important to her ahead of the vote, Antoniazzi said, "The reality is that no woman wakes up 24 weeks pregnant or more and suddenly decides to end their own pregnancy outside a hospital or clinic. "But some women, in desperate circumstances, make choices that many of us would struggle to understand. What they need is compassion and care, not the threat of criminal prosecution." Now, women who've experienced a late-stage miscarriage will no longer at risk of a police investigation if medical staff report them as suspicious. Nor is a woman at risk of a criminal trial, as seen in the recent Nicola Packer case, if she mistakenly calculates how far into a pregnancy she is when opting for a pills-by-post termination. Instead, she will be met with compassion rather than a years-long police investigation that upends her world and could result in a sentence of life imprisonment. Women in vulnerable situations no longer need to fear seeking help from medics if they need it, out of fear that they could be unfairly investigated. Louise McCudden, UK head of external affairs at MSI, said the successfully tabled amendment was 'designed to fix a very specific, urgent problem that we're seeing at the moment, which is women facing criminal investigation and prison for ending their own pregnancies'. It also, she added, sends a positive signal to anti-abortion groups in the UK which have become louder and better-funded in recent years, and coincides with abortion providers receiving multiple requests for women's medical information from police in recent years. 'Once this reform is signed into law, no one will face invasive criminal investigations into their medical history and personal life following an unexplained pregnancy loss,' McCudden added. 'No one will face prison for ending their own pregnancy. Abortion care will continue to be provided in the same way as before. The only difference is that nobody will face criminal prosecution for ending their own pregnancy.' Dr Charlotte Proudman, a leading barrister, women's rights advocate, and director of Right to Equality, said, 'This is a watershed moment in the legal recognition of reproductive rights in England and Wales. For the first time, Parliament has taken concrete steps to remove women and pregnant people from the scope of criminal law in relation to abortion. 'This is a fundamental shift in how the law conceptualises bodily autonomy, moving away from a punitive framework rooted in the 19th century towards a healthcare-based model. The next step must be full legal reform to ensure equitable, nationwide access to abortion care. Decriminalisation alone does not guarantee availability.' The law will not come into effect until the Crime and Policing bill has fully made its way through Parliament and is given royal assent. There is no clear date on when this might happen at this stage. Working across this campaign has shown us here at Cosmopolitan UK how many of you are passionate about the right to access. While this victory is huge for women's rights, there is still work to be done. There is still a stigma surrounding abortion that impacts our relationship with it and we know that there are access issues, especially in rural areas. We will keep reporting on this topic and fighting for change, as we have done since our inception over 50 years ago. Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC's Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women's Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
