In the run up and aftermath of the US Election, American abortion law was at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Somehow, though, much of the British public do not seem to care that abortion is not enshrined in our laws.
As the law stands in the UK, as of the 1967 Abortion Act, abortion is illegal except under certain circumstances.
For an abortion to take place, two medical practitioners must agree that one of the following circumstances is applicable:
- The pregnancy has not exceeded 24 weeks and that the continuation of the pregnancy poses more risk than termination (this can be a physical or mental health risk to either the pregnant individual or any of their existing children).
- An abortion is necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the health, mental and physical, of the pregnant individual.
- The continuation of the pregnancy involves risk to life greater than if the pregnancy was terminated.
- There is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities.
Any termination of a pregnancy that does not pose a risk is illegal.
People who procure an abortion outside these exceptions face court, and the possibility of a life sentence. For instance, in 2022 one mother was taken to court for allegedly taking an abortion pill. She was charged under the Offences Against a Person act 1861, which states: “Every woman, being with child, who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, shall unlawfully administer to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or shall unlawfully use any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent […] shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable to be kept in penal servitude for life.”
So why do the British public not seem to care?
It is not that they are against abortion or that they agree with the current abortion laws. A 2023 YouGov Poll found that 87% of Britons thought abortion should be allowed in the UK, with only 6% disagreeing. Further results from the poll suggest people in Britain are not fully aware of the limitation on access to abortion. When asked: “Do you think the current law makes it too easy to get an abortion, too difficult to get an abortion, or is the balance about right?,” 55% said the balance was about right and only 10% felt it was difficult.
This suggests that British people think abortion access is about right. However, when asked: “to what extent, if at all, do you think abortion should be allowed BEFORE 24 weeks?”, 65% said abortion should be available to any woman who wants it. This is in conflict with the Abortion Act, which states the termination must also mitigate risk.
Similarly, when asked: “In events where women have had abortions outside the set rules (for example, by having an abortion without the consent of a doctor, or beyond the legal time limits), do you think they should or should not face criminal prosecution?”, 52% said that the woman should not be prosecuted.
This shows further conflict with current abortion law, which treats these abortions as illegal – with at least six women having been tried in court for ending or attempting to end their own pregnancy since 2022.
This demonstrates that despite believing abortion access in Britain is ‘about right’, the majority of British people do not actually agree with current abortion law and implies that people are not fully aware of the restrictions on abortion access.
Our parliament also seems to treat abortion as a non-issue. Unlike in the US, where abortion became a key issue in the presidential election, the UK 2024 General Election paid almost no care at all.
The importance of abortion law in US elections is well evidenced: A 2024 Gallup poll found that 32% of US voters say they would only vote for a candidate for major office who shares their views on abortion. And candidates in elections treat abortion as a key concern. Kamala Harris, for instance, put forward restoring and protecting reproductive freedoms as a core policy – stating that:
“As President, she will never allow a national abortion ban to become law. And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, she will sign it.”
However, in the 2024 UK General Election, no major party mentioned abortion in their manifestos aside from the Liberal Democrats.
In the Liberal Democrat manifesto, the pledge mentioning abortion reads: “Protect everyone’s right to make independent decisions over their reproductive health without interference by the state and ensure access to high-quality reproductive healthcare, including enforcing safe access zones around abortion clinics and hospitals.”
That being said, a minority of people are placing an importance on Abortion Law. For example, at https://petition.parliament.uk/, a petition calling for “the UK government to remove abortion from criminal law so that no pregnant person can be criminalised for procuring their own abortion,” has been launched.
At time of writing, this petition is one month old and has 2,169 signatures; it will run for five more months. In this time, if it reaches 10,000 signatures the government will respond.
Has opposition to UK abortion law ever had success?
In the past, similar petitions have failed to reach this signature requirement bar one in 2022 which petitioned for abortion to be included in the proposed Bill of Rights.
This petition reached 167,690 signatures and was debated in parliament. The length of the debate (4:30pm to 7:25pm), shows some degree of care for the issue in our parliament though no changes occurred as a result of the debate.
The Women’s Equality Party, which campaigns for the full decriminalisation of abortion, also demonstrates some interest in the issue.
In 2024’s local elections, the party saw two candidates elected. In the general election, though, they received only 1,275 votes – suggesting this interest is still very low.
To conclude, the British public seems to care little for abortion law in comparison to the US – this largely is to do with a lack of awareness of the existing abortion laws. Parliament could be seen as to blame for this, with no parties proposing any changes and therefore not bringing the issue to light. Whilst there are some movements to change abortion law, these have limited popularity, and the majority feeling remains that abortion law is ‘about right.’