WATCH: My Speech on Removing Women from the Criminal Law on Abortion

​During consideration of Lords amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, I spoke in support of measures to end the criminalisation of women for abortion and to pardon those already harmed by outdated laws.

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​Speech

I rise to speak in support of Lords amendment 361 and the Government amendments to it.

I was horrified to learn of the increasing number of cases in recent years of women facing criminal investigations and prosecutions on suspicion of illegal abortion offences. The abject cruelty that more than 100 desperate women have been forced to endure under a 165‑year‑old law is barbaric and completely unnecessary.

That is why I tabled an amendment to the Bill last year to stop this, which was emphatically supported in this Chamber in June. The House of Lords recently supported that change as well. As a Parliament, we took that decision because we listened to the advice of professionals and the evidence gathered over a long period of time, and we chose to stand up for women.

Alongside the women affected, I am very pleased that once the Bill becomes law, no more women in England and Wales will be subject to the threat of criminal prosecution on suspicion of ending their own pregnancy. However, I would welcome clarification from the Minister regarding current investigations.

Parliament has been resoundingly clear in its support for removing women from the criminal law related to abortion. Can the Minister confirm that once the Bill becomes law, the expectation is that all current investigations and prosecutions under these offences should be dropped? I would also welcome a commitment that she will write to police forces in England and Wales, because they clearly have not been listening to the will of Parliament. We are aware of at least three further women having been investigated for ending their own pregnancies since the Commons vote in June.

As well as firmly supporting the decriminalisation of women in cases of abortion, the House of Lords passed an amendment to protect the women already harmed by these outdated laws. I pay tribute to Baroness Thornton, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, Baroness Watkins of Tavistock, and Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer for tabling this cross‑party amendment.

Lords amendment 361 and the Government amendments to it would pardon women found guilty of ending their own pregnancy and expunge records of investigations, arrests and charges under abortion law, whether or not a woman was ultimately found guilty.

That is important. Current law classifies abortion offences as serious and violent crimes, meaning that even without a conviction, a woman’s arrest and interview remains on her Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for life. This actively harms job prospects, the ability to travel to certain countries, and leaves a permanent record on police computer systems—or, in the case of conviction, a permanent criminal record for ending a pregnancy outside the law.

Colleagues will remember that the women subjected to these investigations are overwhelmingly already vulnerable, and are often victims of abuse and exploitation. The retention of these records causes ongoing harm under a law that Parliament has rightly recognised has no place in modern society.

This includes women whose experiences I spoke of in this place last year—women like Nicola Packer, who after complications in her abortion treatment was arrested and held for 36 hours in custody, and then endured nearly five years of investigation and prosecution. She was found not guilty at trial, yet the arrest, charge and investigation remain on her record.

It includes women like Laura, a young mother and university student who was criminalised for an abortion using illicit medication forced on her by an abusive partner. She was in a physically, sexually and emotionally abusive relationship. When she was arrested, he threatened to kill her if she told anyone he was involved. She was jailed for two years, and that conviction remains on her criminal record today.

Women who have faced investigation or conviction should not have to continue living with the consequences of this outdated legislation—laws that Parliament has finally and rightly decided should no longer apply to women. That is why clause 361 is so necessary.

While remaining neutral on the issue, the Government have made changes to clause 361 to ensure workability, and I emphatically support those changes. They take a similar approach to the provisions in the Bill providing pardons for convictions and cautions for loitering or soliciting when under the age of 18.