MPs have voted in favour of introducing a bill on decriminalising abortion and extending the right to abortion to Northern Ireland under a 10-Minute Rule motion introduced by Diana Johnson.
The bill will have a second reading next month but is unlikely to become law without government support.
The vote was 208 in favour against 123 opposed.
The Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 makes abortion illegal in the UK except when there is a risk to the life or health of the mother. This was partly superseded in 1967 by the Abortion Act, but the latter has never applied in Northern Ireland; Johnson's bill, introduced while the provinces parliament is suspended, would remove that anomaly.
She said the aim of her bill was 'to stop women facing the criminal courts for decisions about their own bodies'.
Opposing her, MP Fiona Bruce, who is a Christian, said the bill was 'untimely and would 'completely undermine the substance and spirit of the Good Friday Agreement'. She said the bill would allow 'abortion on demand up to 24 weeks' and that babies of only 22 weeks gestation were now surviving. She also warned it would facilitate sex-selective abortions.
The chief executive of Christian social policy charity CARE, Nola Leach, said: 'Today's vote is really only advisory, in fact less than half of MPs were even there to vote so the outcome can hardly be said to be representative of the views of the whole House.
'It is still shocking to see how willing some MPs are to by-pass the devolution settlement and play fast and loose with the constitution.
'If MPs are called upon to vote on this issue again – and you can be sure another vote will come – it is vital they engage with recent polling which clearly demonstrated the Johnson Bill is completely out of step with public opinion.
'CARE polling tells us that in England and Wales, the majority of women do not want a more radical and extreme abortion regime and Both Lives Matter polling reveals that 64 per cent of people in Northern Ireland want abortion law to be decided by locally elected representatives.
'Women who find themselves experiencing a crisis pregnancy need support. Johnson's Bill only offers them the quick fix of an abortion, neglecting any mention of counselling, care or concern for the woman.
'It is quite clear that removing safeguards and introducing a more radical abortion regime is out of step with public opinion and not the direction we should be going in.'
