France just made a major move on abortion. Is it time the UK does the same?
A Victorian law means women still face jail for abortions in the UK.
‘I say to all women within our borders and beyond, that today, the era of a world of hope begins.’
These are the words that rung out in France’s parliament after a historic vote to enshrine the right to abortion in its constitution.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told lawmakers owed a ‘moral debt’ to women who suffered before abortion was legalised.
The mantra ‘My Body My Choice’ was beamed onto the Eiffel Tower and women spilled onto the streets of Paris to celebrate.
Abortion has been decriminalised in France since 1975, but this new amendment gives women the ‘guaranteed freedom’ to have an abortion – marking the first time that France has made a change to its constitution since 2008.
The news comes at a time when access to abortion elsewhere in the world is under increasing threat.
In Poland, a 2020 ruling banned abortion in almost all instances. Two years later, the US Supreme Court overturned a woman’s right to an abortion in a landmark case that sent shockwaves across the nation.
Meanwhile in the UK, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) has long been warning that England and Wales is ‘on the wrong side of history’ when it comes to abortion policy.
Could developments in France spark similar change here, across the channel? Or, is the right to choice more at risk on our shores than ever before?
Is abortion legal in the UK?
The Abortion Act, which was passed in 1967, gives women in England, Scotland and Wales access to abortions through a doctor.
Two medical professionals are required to sign off the procedure before it can go ahead.
Around 200,000 abortion procedures take place each year in England and Wales.
However, a Victorian law means that a woman who procures her own abortion or helps another woman terminate a pregnancy could face criminal charges, including life in prison.
The 1861 law has been used to prosecute six women in the last 18 months –more than ever before.
In one case last year, mother-of-three Carla Foster, 45, was jailed for 28 months after she terminated her pregnancy after the legal time limit.
She was released in July 2023 following an appeal.
In another case, Bethany Cox, 22, was prosecuted after she used a drug to induce an abortion when she was 19.
She took the drug at the end of the first Covid lockdown, when access to in-person healthcare was restricted.
Bethany’s barrister said she was interrogated by police while she was in the ‘throes of grief’.
She was under investigation for three years while awaiting a trial, which had a ‘profound’ impact on her wellbeing. The charges against her were dropped in January.
Rachael Clarke, BPAS Chief of Staff, has described the 1861 law as ‘a cruel, outdated law that passed before women had the right to vote’.
‘As it stands, England and Wales have the most severe punishment for an illegal abortion in the world – up to life imprisonment,’ she said.
‘This is worse than countries and states with severe anti-abortion laws such as Texas, Afghanistan, and South Sudan.’
According to Home Office data, there were 40 recorded crimes for abortion in 2021, up from just eight in 2012.
The co-chair of the British Society of Abortion Care Providers, Dr Jonathan Lord, told the Independent that he is aware of a least 60 criminal inquiries into suspected illegal abortions in England and Wales since 2018.
Experts say the rise in criminal cases could be partly explained by greater awareness of abortion pills, which can be obtained online.
If an abortion pill is taken without authorisation from two doctors, a woman could face charges.
Could the UK enshrine the right to abortion like France?
Unlike France, the UK does not have a single written constitution. Instead, the UK’s constitution is made up of a series of statutes, conventions and treaties.
That means the UK could not enshrine a women’s right to abortion in the same way as France, by amending a constitution.
What is a constitutional right?
A constitution is a set of principles and laws that determines how a state is governed.
The UK doesn’t have a ‘codified’ constitution like most countries – which means that its constitution isn’t written down in a single document.
A constitutional right are the protections and liberties guaranteed to individuals living in a state. For instance, in many democratic countries, the right to vote is a constitutional right.
However, there have been moves to liberalise abortion law in England and Wales.
MP Dame Diana Johnson is campaigning for an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to decriminalise abortions in England and Wales.
Dame Johnson told The Times that ‘the vast majority of people accept that abortion is a healthcare issue between a woman and her doctor.’
She added that many other countries had already decriminalised abortion, and said she was ‘hopeful’ the amendment would pass.
When Johnson announced that her amendment would be voted on in Parliament, some members of the public admitted non X that they didn’t realise that abortion was still criminalised in the UK.
According to YouGov, 87% of Britons think abortion should be allowed in the UK, and three quarters support changing the law to enshrine a legal right to abortion.
If the amendment is successful, no woman would face prosecution for seeking an abortion. MPs will vote on the amendment in March.
Some pro-life groups have said that the amendment would make would increase the number of abortions past 24 weeks, which is the current legal limit.
Conservative MP Nick Fletcher said: ‘Decriminalisation of abortion will no doubt end with abortions happening much later, even up until full term.’
How many countries is abortion legal in?
60% of women worldwide live in a country where abortion is broadly legal. In the last 30 years, major steps have been taken to liberalise abortion laws in more than 60 countries.
However, four countries – the US, Poland, Nicaragua and El Salvador – have all rolled back their abortion rights.
El Salvador has some of the strictest abortion laws in the world. Terminating a pregnancy in all circumstances is criminalised.
In 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, which took away the right to abortion in the country.
That means that the right to abortion in the US now varies from state to state.
There are near-total bans on abortion in 14 states, and 10 further states have a ban on abortion before viability.
The number of patients travelling to other states to get an abortion has doubled since 2020, according to the pro-reproductive rights Guttmacher Institute.
Some states states,like California, Michigan and Vermont, have explicit rights to abortion in their state constitution.