The push to decriminalise abortion in Britain heats up

For more than half a century abortion has been a largely uncontroversial issue in Britain. In 1967 the Abortion Act was passed to allow women to end their pregnancies up until 28 weeks with the approval of two doctors; this limit was later lowered to 24 weeks. To satisfy those Britons—mostly conservative Christians—who believe abortion is murder, lawmakers chose not to repeal parts of a law from 1861 that criminalised it.

That legislative fudge has been successful, but it is now beginning to cause problems. Until recently prosecutions under the Victorian law were rare; they are now becoming more common. The reason is a change introduced during the pandemic and made permanent in August 2022, which allows women to receive abortion medication (two drugs taken a few hours apart) by post after a telemedicine consultation, provided they are less than ten weeks pregnant. This has made it easier to gain access to abortion. But it has an obvious flaw: it is impossible to check how far along a pregnancy is via a phone call.