Today, 17/06/2025, MPs will vote on the most significant change to abortion law in over half a century. Tabled by Labour’s Diana Johnson and Tonia Antoniazzi, New Clause 1 (NC1) to the Criminal Justice Bill proposes removing criminal penalties for women who end their own pregnancies at any stage.
Supporters of the amendment claim it’s a modest reform, protecting vulnerable women from Victorian-era laws, such as the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. But in reality, this amendment would mean that a woman who ends her pregnancy at 8 weeks or 38 weeks would face no legal consequences. That is a profound shift in our legal and moral framework.
What NC1 Does
NC1 does not remove the 24-week limit that applies to medical providers under the Abortion Act 1967. Doctors would still face prosecution for terminating a pregnancy outside legal criteria. But the woman herself would be exempt from prosecution at any stage of pregnancy, even for a self-induced abortion after fetal viability.
This means that while clinical abortions after 24 weeks remain restricted, any woman who obtains abortion pills unlawfully or takes them late in pregnancy would no longer be accountable in law. The case of Carla Foster (convicted after ending a pregnancy at 32–34 weeks) would not be prosecutable if NC1 were passed.
Let us be clear: this is a de facto legalisation of self-administered abortion up to birth, not via policy, but by eliminating consequence.
The Slippery Slope: Creasy’s NC20
Alongside NC1, a separate amendment by Labour’s Stella Creasy (NC20) goes much further. NC20 proposes full decriminalisation of abortion for women and providers. If passed, it would eliminate the 24-week time limit by removing the criminal laws that enforce it. Medical professionals could terminate pregnancies at any stage without fear of prosecution. While NC20 is not currently scheduled for a vote, the groundwork is being laid, and NC1 would serve as its gateway.
Medical Support or Medical Blindness?
We are told that the medical establishment supports NC1. Major bodies such as the BMA, RCOG, and BPAS have publicly endorsed the decriminalisation of women. But this consensus masks a deeper concern: what happens when criminal law no longer applies, but clinical guidelines are routinely ignored?
The pandemic saw rapid changes in abortion access (such as home use of pills by post) implemented without long-term safety review. We are now being asked to normalise an extreme legal change based on those temporary measures.
Public Opinion Still Matters
Despite claims of growing support for liberalisation, polling has consistently shown that the British public does not want abortion laws relaxed beyond 24 weeks. A 2021 ComRes poll found that fewer than 1% of UK women support abortion up to birth. Most people believe the current framework already stretches public tolerance. Yet instead of listening to public concern, Parliament is preparing to shield late-term abortions from scrutiny under the pretext of “compassion.”
What Is at Stake
NC1 removes women from the reach of abortion law, even in the most extreme circumstances. This is not a targeted response to trauma. It is a blank cheque that cannot be recalled.
No law should be enforced with cruelty, but no society should abandon the unborn to lawlessness in the name of compassion. Accountability matters. So does the value of life, especially when it is viable, capable of surviving birth, and deserving of legal protection.
Homeland Party Position
We call for:
- The rejection of NC1 and any amendment that removes legal accountability for late-term abortions;
- A full parliamentary review of abortion legislation, grounded in public consent and ethical restraint;
- Legal clarity that upholds the dignity of both women and the unborn, rather than abandoning one in the name of the other.
Decriminalisation is not the end of the debate. It is the start of a dangerous drift.
The right to life must not be sacrificed on the altar of legal convenience.
Parliament must think again.
