MPs in England have voted in favour of decriminalising abortion in England and Wales.
A bill was put forward with 172 voting in favour and 142 voting against. A second vote will be cast on March 24th to decide if the bill gets passed into law.
According to
The Independent, the Abortion Act of 1967 is at the centre of the bill. MPs have voted to change to rules applied to women seeking an abortion.
Currently, under this act, a termination is only legal if a doctor has pre-approved it and up until 24 weeks of the pregnancy.
The new bill will mean that women will no longer have to get prior consent from a doctor.
Labour MP Diana Johnson said:
"There is no other medical procedure in this country is governed by legislation this old, this out of step with medical developments and public attitudes.
Doctors are poorly served by a criminal framework which does not apply to other areas of medicine."
