A network of online European outlets and social media posts are claiming that the United Kingdom will now allow abortion up until the moment of birth, based on a confusion of the terms “decriminalisation” and “legalisation”.
On the 18th of March, the British Parliament’s upper house, known as the House of Lords, voted to end the criminalisation of women who terminate their pregnancies up until the moment of birth.
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Shortly after the vote, news of Britain “allowing abortion until birth” went viral: misleading interpretations were quickly picked up by fringe media outlets across Spain, Italy, France and Portugal.
Online articles also repeated the claim, which spread widely on X and Facebook, with some posts attracting thousands of views and shares.
Spanish MEP Margarita de la Pisa, currently serving in the European Parliament with the far-right Vox party, retweeted a story by fringe online newspaper La Gaceta, with the headline: “Abortion will be legal until birth in the UK”. Her tweet garnered hundreds of likes and retweets and over 60.000 views.
But the House of Lords did not vote to legalise abortion until birth, but rather to keep an amendment that the British Parliament’s lower house, known as the House of Commons, voted in favour of last year that would remove women who choose to have abortions outside of the legal framework from criminal liability.
This means that women would no longer face criminal investigation, arrest, or prosecution for ending their own pregnancies. It also means that women who have been convicted, or even jailed, over abortions outside of the legal framework will be pardoned.
It concerns an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill and has yet to complete its final passage through parliament.
It does not, contrary to online claims, change the legal conditions under which abortions can be provided by healthcare professionals according to the 1967 Abortion Act, which makes abortion legal in the UK.
The Act says women who wish to terminate their pregnancies must have two doctors certify that the procedure is necessary for the pregnant person's health, up to a 24-week limit.
Beyond this time-frame, healthcare professionals are only legally able to provide an abortion in exceptional circumstances, such as a severe fetal abnormality or a grave risk to the life of the mother.
As the amendment doesn’t propose to change the Act itself, doctors or others could still face legal consequences if abortions are carried out outside the conditions set by current law, even if the women involved will not be legally liable.
Part of the confusion online seems to stem from conflating the terms “decriminalisation” and “legalisation”. In this case, the House of Lords has backed a reform that would decriminalise women ending their own pregnancies while keeping the broader legal framework in place.
The House of Lords’ amendment, which passed after members rejected an attempt to remove it by 185 votes to 148, was brought forward following growing concern over the use of Victorian-era laws to investigate and prosecute women who ended their own pregnancies.
In recent years, more than 100 women have reportedly faced criminal investigations under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, prompting calls from campaigners and some lawmakers to update the law and prevent further prosecutions.
How does the EU compare?
The UK is by no means the first European country to take steps to decriminalise abortion.
Most EU member states have legalised abortion "on request" during the first trimester. Meanwhile, a small group - including Denmark, Estonia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Sweden - have liberal abortion regimes that resemble full decriminalisation, although some limitations apply.
The World Health Organization recommends full decriminalisation, including the removal of gestational time limits, and the elimination of barriers like mandatory waiting periods or third-party authorisation.
France led the trend in 2024 by becoming the first nation to enshrine abortion as a "guaranteed freedom" in its constitution, effectively making its criminalisation impossible.
On the other hand, in countries like Germany and Switzerland, abortion remains technically illegal under criminal law but is permitted under certain conditions, including a waiting period and mandatory counselling.
Either way, it’s a patchwork landscape that continues to evolve: in April 2024, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights to be amended to include the right to safe and legal abortion.
This vote urged all member states to fully decriminalise the procedure and remove remaining physical, financial and regulatory barriers to reproductive healthcare.
Following that vote, the resolution stalled at the legislative level because any changes to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights require unanimous agreement from all member states, which has not been reached because of strong opposition from countries like Malta and Poland.