MET Police Search Guidance for ‘Suspected Illegal Abortions’

Molly Wilson

The National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) released updated child death guidance in February of 2025 that allowed MET police officers to search women’s homes and phones after ‘suspicious’ stillbirths or miscarriages.

Image (WIX)

The scope for these searches includes;

internet search history, health apps like menstrual cycle and fertility trackers and private messages.

Alongside these searches, detail is provided for how law enforcement could bypass legal requirements to acquire medical records about a person’s abortion from NHS surgeries.

According to The Independent, six women have been taken to court over the past two years for allegedly ending their pregnancies in an illegal manner. According to Tonia Antoniazzi, Labour MP for Gower, approximately 100 women have been investigated for ‘illegal abortions’ in the last five years.

The law that Britain’s abortion regulation is based off is the Offences Against the Person act, 1861 - before women had suffrage. The Abortion Act, 1967 allows for an abortion to take place up to 24 weeks of the pregnancy, where two doctors can agree that continuing with the pregnancy would pose a risk to the woman’s mental or physical health.

Abortions after 24 weeks would only be enacted if the pregnant person’s life was in immediate danger or there is a severe foetal abnormality.

While the UK’s abortion laws seem liberal, they are actually more conservative than many in Europe. Countries like Austria, France and Portugal have abortion on request, no matter if the pregnant person or foetus’ health is in danger or not, according to the Centre for Reproductive Rights.

These new guidelines have come at a time where global abortion rights are under threat. The lack of consultation with gynaecological and obstetric specialists highlights the danger that women’s healthcare is in.

Katie Saxon, Chief Strategic Communications Officer at British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said;

“As an abortion provider, we know how police treat women suspected of breaking abortion law. But to see it black and white after years of criticisms of the way this outdated law is enforced is harrowing.”

The lack of clarity from the government about these new guidelines has been pointed out among abortion providers and women’s healthcare specialists.

This amendment to the law appears to be done in secret – little coverage in the Houses of Parliament and among news providers indicates that this was not done with women’s or child safety in mind.