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Justice Secretary has slammed plans to allow - proposed by Labour colleagues - as "extreme" in advance of a divisive vote tonight. Amendments likely to be debated tonight are aimed at ensuring women cannot be prosecuted for terminating their own pregnancy at any stage.

But Labour MP , who said she believes safe and legal abortions are part of female healthcare, branded the amendments "unnecessary" and "dangerous". Abortion in England and Wales remains a criminal offence but is legal with an authorised provider up to 24 weeks, with very limited circumstances allowing one after this time, such as when the mother's life is at risk or the child would be born with a severe disability.

MPs proposing changes deny that it would effectively allow abortion up to birth.

Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi's amendment, which has wide support from MPs, would result in "removing the threat of investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment" of any woman who acts in relation to her own pregnancy.

A separate amendment has also been put forward by Labour MP Stella Creasy and goes further by not only decriminalising abortion, but also seeks to "lock in" the right of someone to have one and protect those who help them.

Ms Mahmood, who will not be present for the vote due to being away on Government business, wrote to constituents making clear her opposition to both amendments.

She said: "It is hard to see these measures as anything other than extreme.

"I can unequivocally state that I would have voted against both amendments were I able to be there, and I will vote against them if given the opportunity in the future.

"I oppose extending abortions up until the point of birth beyond the exemptions that currently exist, as doing so would not only be unnecessary but dangerous.

"I am deeply concerned to see these measures being progressed in the name of women's rights, when the potential physical and mental impacts on women would be so devastating."

She added she is "troubled" by the amendments being considered as part of the wider Crime and Policing Bill "meaning there will be less time for debate".

She described the proposed changes as something which would "signal a generational shift in our approach and response to abortion and therefore warrants serious discussion".

The issue has come to the fore in recent times with prominent cases such as those of Nicola Packer and Carla Foster.

Ms Packer was cleared by a jury last month after taking prescribed abortion medicine when she was around 26 weeks pregnant, beyond the legal limit of 10 weeks for taking such medication at home.

She told jurors during her trial, which came after more than four years of police investigation, that she did not realise she had been pregnant for more than 10 weeks.

The case of Ms Foster, jailed in 2023 for illegally obtaining abortion tablets to end her pregnancy when she was between 32 and 34 weeks pregnant, eventually saw her sentence reduced by the Court of Appeal and suspended, with senior judges saying that sending women to prison for abortion-related offences is "unlikely" to be a "just outcome".

Ms Antoniazzi said police had investigated more than 100 women for suspected illegal abortion in the past five years "including women who've suffered natural miscarriages and stillbirths".

She added: "This is just wrong. It's a waste of taxpayers' money, it's a waste of the judiciary's time, and it's not in the public interest."