A big change is coming to abortion laws in the UK. Members of Parliament just voted to make it so women can’t be charged with a crime for getting an abortion after the legal cutoff point. This is the biggest change to abortion laws in almost 60 years.
Before, women who got abortions after 24 weeks could face charges. But now, they won’t have to worry about that. The person who helped with the abortion, like a doctor, could still get in trouble if the abortion happened after the legal cutoff.
A woman named Stella Creasy, who is a member of Parliament, pushed for this change. She said that most abortions happen before 20 weeks, so only a small number of women would be affected by this change. She also talked about a woman named Nicola Parker, who was arrested after taking abortion pills at home. Parker didn’t know she was past the 10-week mark, and Creasy said this shows how the old laws were unfair.
Creasy wants to make sure women who get abortions are treated with care and support, not punished. But some groups, like the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, are against this change. They say it could mean women can get abortions at any point in their pregnancy, even right before giving birth.
The BBC reported on this story.