MPs back pardon for women convicted of having illegal abortions
MPs backed a move to pardon women convicted of illegal abortions, as well as women who issued warnings.
The House of Commons has approved an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill by the House of Lords that will also expunge records of investigations, arrests and charges against women under the abortion law, whether or not they are found guilty.
It follows a landmark vote by MPs in June last year to decriminalize women terminating their own pregnancies.
Labor MP Tonia Antoniazzi, who put forward the original decriminalization amendment, said this further amendment would “protect women who are already harmed by these outdated laws”.
The Gower MP said: “Current law means abortion offenses are classed as serious and violent offences, so even without a conviction, the fact that a woman is arrested and questioned under these offenses will leave her with a DBS check for life.
“This actively harms her job prospects, her ability to travel to certain areas and leaves her facing a permanent record on police computer systems or, in the event of conviction, a permanent criminal record of having unlawfully terminated her own pregnancy.
“My colleagues will remember that women who have to endure criminal investigations for these crimes are largely already vulnerable and are often victims of acute abuse and exploitation.
“The retention of these convictions and records exposes them to continued harm under a law that Parliament has made clear has no place in modern society.”
Catherine Fookes, Labor MP for Monmouthshire, added: “Even after being found not guilty, some women have investigations that come up in DBS checks, affecting their lives and future careers.
“This is the reality of a young woman named Becca, who was investigated at the age of 19 after giving birth to her son at 28 weeks.
“And he says removing the investigation from his records will help him move on and have a decent family life.”
But Father of the House Sir Edward Leigh has warned against giving “free amnesty” to women who have abortions too late.
The senior Tory referred to the case of Sarah Catt, who was jailed in 2012 after terminating her pregnancy within a week of her due date.
Catt, from North Yorkshire, who was married but had been in a relationship for seven years, was around 40 weeks pregnant when she took medication to induce labour.
Catt pleaded guilty to administering poison with intent to induce miscarriage and was sentenced to eight years in prison, but this was reduced to three and a half years on appeal.
Sir Edward said: “As a result of these changes, anyone who unlawfully provides a very late-term abortion will receive a free amnesty.”
He added that the judge in Catt’s case said the seriousness of his crime was “between manslaughter and murder.”
“When sentencing, the judge told Catt that she clearly thought the man she was having an affair with was her father and that she showed no remorse,” he said.
Shadow Home Office minister Matt Vickers said he and “many people across the country” shared Sir Edward’s concerns, not just about the issue itself but also “the way it has been included in this bill”.
He argued that the bill had been “swiped” after the committee stage and that it had not been given “sufficient scrutiny”.
Home Secretary Sarah Jones said the Government was “neutral” on changes to abortion, but said the Government had a duty to ensure the law was “operational and legally enforceable”.
The amendment to pardon women convicted of terminating their own pregnancies and to remove their records from police records was passed without division.
