On June 18, Britain's House of Commons by a vote of 312-95 passed and sent to the House of Lords the Crime and Policing Bill. Among the provisionsin the 444-page bill are Section 82 which removes the limitation period in damage actions claiming child sexual abuse and Section 191 which provides:
For the purposes of the law related to abortion, including sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, no offence is committed by a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy.
Discussing Section 191, WGBH reports:
In a landslide vote late Tuesday, lawmakers in the lower house of British parliament, the House of Commons, endorsed new legislation that bars women in England and Wales from ever being investigated, arrested, prosecuted or imprisoned for terminating their own pregnancies — no matter what term or trimester they’re in. The vote was 379 to 137.
Abortion is allowed up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, and beyond that in certain cases, if the woman’s life is in danger. But abortions have to be approved by two doctors, except for those that are terminated at home within 10 weeks....
The bill now goes to the House of Lords for its approval.
