Rejected petition Repeal sections 58 and 59 from the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

Women and transgender men have a right to bodily autonomy, and this includes abortion. Sections 58 and 59 have been removed from statute in Northern Ireland. Recent events have proved this is now required in England, Scotland and Wales.

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Our abortion laws are outdated, unfair and need clarification. I am asking our Government to repeal sections 58 and 59 from the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

Section 58 reads as: "A woman is guilty of an offence if she unlawfully procures her own miscarriage".

Section 59 reads as: "Anyone who supplies drugs or instruments to be unlawfully used to procure abortion is guilty of an offence".

I am also asking for the repeal of the above sections to include transgender men.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

You may wish to sign this petition which calls for the same action: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/639517

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 13 June 2023
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