Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the effectiveness of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 in bringing prosecutions against (a) abusive partners and (b) traffickers who have coerced women into having an abortion.

It is important that the law protects those who may be coerced into having an abortion. Section 58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 (use of poison or instrument to cause a miscarriage) can be used to prosecute those who coerce a woman to have an abortion. In addition, section 1 of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, which deals with late term abortions in England and Wales, makes it an offence for any person, with intent to destroy the life of a child which is capable of being born alive, to cause the death of that child unless it can be proved that the act was done to preserve the life of the woman.

Decisions to prosecute a person for a criminal offence in England and Wales are a matter for the independent CPS, who take into account both the evidence available and whether it is in the public interest to pursue a prosecution under the Code for Crown Prosecutors.