Thank you to everyone who contacted me recently about abortion.

I have long been a staunch advocate of a woman’s right to choose, but I do not dismiss the concerns raised by campaigners on the other side of this debate.

I believe there has long been a broad consensus that the laws governing abortion rights – some of which date from Victorian times – are outdated and in need of reform. I do not believe it is acceptable or in the public interest that more than 100 women have been prosecuted in recent years for abortion-related offences, which is why I voted in favour of decriminalising abortion along with the vast majority of MPs.

This means women will no longer face police investigation and prosecution for abortions that take place outside the legal framework. That’s the biggest step forward for reproductive rights in 60 years and I am proud to have voted in favour of it.

I want to dispel some misinformation about what this change in the law means. While women will no longer be prosecuted for carrying out abortions that take place outside the UK’s legal framework, it remains illegal for medical professionals to provide abortions after 24 weeks, or for any other person to help facilitate an illegal abortion. These offences have not been decriminalised and individuals who commit them still face criminal prosecution.

This change in the law was needed, in part, because of a worrying increase in recent years of criminal proceedings against women for abortion offences. In many cases, the women in question had ordered abortion pills online and in good faith, without knowing that this was a criminal offence. Others had been coerced by violent or controlling partners into having abortions, but it was the women who faced potential criminal sanction, not the men who were abusing them. In my view such women need care and support, not criminal prosecution, which is why I am proud to have voted in favour of decriminalisation.