Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have provided to NHS bodies and abortion providers since the commencement of section 241 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 on the circumstances in which healthcare professionals should make a safeguarding or police referral where a patient presents following a suspected self-administered abortion outside the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967.

The Department wrote to independent sector abortion providers in June 2026, following the commencement of section 241 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, explaining that, although the changes alter the position under criminal law for women acting in relation to their pregnancy, they do not change the Abortion Act 1967 and therefore the provision of lawful abortion services. They also do not alter the clinical, professional or legal responsibilities of healthcare professionals in relation to abortion, and existing clinical frameworks, professional standards, and safeguarding duties continue to apply in full.

This letter was also disseminated by NHS England to integrated care board and trust chief executives, medical directors, and chief nursing officers, and copied to NHS England regional directors, medical directors, chief nurses, and directors of commissioning.