Leading voices call for the decriminalisation of women ending their own pregnancies
More than 30 organisations are urging parliament to remove the threat of criminal investigation and prosecution for women who end their own pregnancies in England and Wales.
A joint statement, signed by leading abortion care providers and institutions including the British Medical Association, Women’s Aid, and the Royal College of Gynaecologists, asks politicians to relook at the law to prevent women who are suspected of ending their own pregnancy outside of the legal abortion limits, from being criminally pursued.
Louise McCudden from abortion provider MSI
“We don’t believe abortion should be a crime,” Louise McCudden from abortion provider MSI, told Sky News.
“It’s healthcare, and it should be regulated the same as any other healthcare.”
Their proposals would bring English and Welsh law in line with Northern Ireland where abortion was fully decriminalised in 2020, and also countries including France and Canada.
Criminal inquiries can include investigating women who may have had premature labours or stillbirths, but who are suspected of trying to illegally terminate their pregnancy.
Sky News previously spoke to Sarah, whose baby was born prematurely and she was investigated for almost a year
It comes after a Sky News investigation last year revealed a rise in the number of people being investigated, and sometimes prosecuted, on suspicion of having so-called “illegal” abortions.
Between 2023 and 2024, 29 people in England and Wales were recorded as under police investigation on suspicion of “procuring an illegal abortion” or the “intentional destruction of a viable unborn child”.
That’s the highest number of police-recorded inquiries in over two decades.
Last year Sky News spoke to Sarah (not her real name). Her baby was born prematurely, at home.
He wasn’t breathing and so emergency services were called. Police turned up before paramedics, and Sarah said the house was like a “crime scene”.
She was investigated by police for nearly a year, with her phone and devices taken away.
Sarah had previously considered having an abortion – she went to a clinic but was over the legal gestation limit, and so searched online for pills but never bought any or went ahead.
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She says the trauma of being investigated for 51 weeks “never” left her mind, and that she was “made to feel like a criminal, like I’ve done something wrong to hurt my child”.
The police force involved told us they were alerted to the “potential sudden unexplained death of a baby” and so “attended to assist medical professionals”, adding that it was a “complex investigation” and that “unfortunately these kinds of enquiries take time”.
In England and Wales, it is a criminal offence to deliberately end a pregnancy. It carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Women can legally terminate a pregnancy in Great Britain, up to 24 weeks in an approved clinic, with the permission of two doctors.
They can have a surgical abortion or they can take two pills – known as a medical termination.
Having a termination outside of these circumstances in England and Wales is illegal under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.
Misoprostol is one of the two pills used in a medical abortion
Since COVID, the “pills by post” scheme became a permanent measure.
It means both sets of pills can be taken at home in the early stages of pregnancy. Some campaigners and medics point to this change as a factor that increased awareness among authorities about the ease of at-home abortions, leading to a rise in criminal investigations.
But others suggest that the law surrounding abortion in this country is sound, and any moves to liberalise it would be “worrying”.
Dr Calum Miller, a medical ethics professor at the University of Oxford
“We’re a pro-choice country, on the whole, most people think there should be legal abortion, but almost everyone thinks there should also be some limit,” said Dr Calum Miller, a medical ethics professor at the University of Oxford.
“We have some of the most extreme and liberal abortion laws already. In practice, you can get an abortion for any reason up to 24 weeks, or six months. This is compared to the European average of about 12 weeks,” he said.
Dr Miller suggests investigations are necessary to “protect children”.
“The inevitable side effect of having a law and protecting children is sometimes there will be investigations and sadly sometimes they result in a person being innocent, but that is what it means to protect children… if there is a serious reason to suspect violation of law, the reality is it does have to be investigated,” he said.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Crown Prosecution Service say investigations are “rare” and “would only be initiated where there is credible information to suggest criminal activity… often as a result of concerns raised from medical professionals”.
A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesperson told Sky News “unexpected pregnancy loss is not something which is routinely investigated by police as potential illegal abortion” and that they “recognise how traumatic the experience of losing a child is, with many complexities involved”.
They added that these cases come with “unique” factors and “personal circumstances” that are “carefully” considered.
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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