Decriminalising Abortion in England and Wales
Professor Ruth Fletcher has published a blog for Verfassungsblog outlining five strategic lessons for reproductive freedom following the vote in Parliament in June.
In the introduction to her blog, Ruth Fletcher, Professor of Law at Queen Mary University of London, writes: 'On 17 June 2025, British MPs took an important step in decriminalising abortion against a backdrop of rising prosecutions for “later” abortion. Once the amended Crime and Policing Bill becomes law, people who voluntarily end their own pregnancies will be exempt from criminalisation. But, unless a further amendment is made, those good faith actors who provide abortion, or support others in getting access, remain at risk of criminal investigation. From a more holistic decriminalisation perspective, the Bill itself is problematic: it will be responsible for the kind of criminalisation of poverty and restriction of protest rights that makes reproductive life more difficult. Five aspects of the recent legal changes are worth emphasising as lessons for a strategic perspective on defending, and even expanding, reproductive freedom.'
Read the full blog on Verfassungsblog.