Abortion one step closer to being decriminalised following momentous House of Lords vote
By Harriet Hall
Published on March 19, 2026.
A historic vote in the House of Lords has paved the way for the decriminalisation of abortion in England and Wales, leading to a significant step towards ending the criminalisation of women seeking abortions. The vote was overwhelmingly supported by peers, with 185 in favour of decriminalisation (185 in favour) and to protect pills-by-post abortion provisions. In a significant move, women who currently have police records for seeking terminations outside of specified permissions will be pardoned. The change will not affect the rules around abortion provision but will align England and Welsh with other countries like Canada, France, and New Zealand where abortion is treated as a medical matter rather than a criminal one. The announcement comes nine months after MPs voted overwhelmingly in favor of removing women from criminal law related to procuring an abortion.
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