Wednesday 28th May 2025
Katherine O’Brien, Head of Campaigns and Communications at BPAS, said:
"MPs are of course entitled to express their own personal views on abortion, but it is wrong to suggest that there is any medical evidence that supports a reduction in the abortion time limit. Just last year, leading fetal medicine experts wrote to Members of Parliament to warn that there is no clinical justification for reducing the time limit based on national outcomes data, and that any such move would have catastrophic consequences for women.
“We do, however, agree with Nigel Farage on one point - that our abortion law is out-of-date. Currently, under a law passed in 1861 - before women even had the right to vote - abortion remains a crime in England and Wales. Alongside medical bodies and women’s rights organisations, we are backing Tonia Antoniazzi MP's cross-party amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which would reform our archaic legislation by removing women from the criminal law in relation to ending a pregnancy. This is the right way to update our abortion law - through compassionate, considered reform, not through the imposition of cruel restrictions."
For further comment, please contact Katherine O’Brien, Head of Campaigns and Communications at BPAS, on 07881 265276 or email katherine.obrien@bpas.org
About BPAS
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, BPAS, is a charity that sees over 100,000 women a year for reproductive healthcare services including pregnancy counselling, abortion care, miscarriage management and contraception at clinics across Great Britain.
BPAS exists to further women’s reproductive choices. We believe all women should have the right to make their own decisions in and around pregnancy, from the contraception they use to avoid pregnancy right the way through to how they decide to feed their newborn baby, with access to evidence-based information to underpin their choices and high-quality services and support to exercise them.
BPAS also runs the Centre for Reproductive Research and Communication, CRRC. Through rigorous multidisciplinary research and impactful communication, the CRRC aims to inform policy, practice, and public discourse. You can find out more here.