Religious leaders and pro-life advocates are raising alarms about changes to abortion laws in Britain after the House of Lords advanced legislation that would remove penalties for women who terminate their pregnancies.

The House of Lords voted March 18 to back an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, known as Clause 208, which states that "no offense is committed by a woman acting in relation to her own pregnancy."

Pro-life advocacy group Right to Life UK also noted the rejection of two proposed amendments that would "leave out" Clause 208, and another that would have required those seeking abortions at home to consult a medical professional.

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"The clause would change the law so it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason, including sex-selective purposes, and at any point up to and during birth," Right to Life said in a March 18 statement.

"If this bill becomes law, it will likely lead to a significant increase in the number of women performing late-term abortions at home, endangering the lives of many more women," it said.

Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for the organization, added: "The abortion up to birth clause is one of the most extreme pieces of legislation ever to pass the House of Commons and the House of Lords."

Prior to the House of Lords vote, Catholic and Anglican leaders warned of the repercussions of the proposed legislation.

Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool, the lead bishop for life issues for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, warned that Clause 208 "could lead to the decriminalization of abortion for women, for any reason, up to the point of birth."

In a statement published March 16, Archbishop Sherrington said the controversial clause represented "a radical departure from our current law" that threatened "the dignity of the unborn child."

"The clause is not supported by the British public," the archbishop wrote. "Apart from the further threat Clause 208 poses to the lives of unborn babies and the health of their mothers, this change would leave women more susceptible to coercion and abuse."

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Echoing those concerns was Anglican Archbishop Sarah Mullally of Canterbury, who addressed the House of Lords prior to the vote, stating that the "infinite value of human life is a fundamental Christian principle which underpins much of our legal system."

While women who face "the very complex and difficult decision to terminate a pregnancy deserve our utmost understanding, care and practical support," the archbishop said she could not support Clause 208.

Under Section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967, abortion is permitted when two doctors agree in good faith, including that "the pregnancy has not exceeded its twenty-fourth week."

The College of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, a U.K.-based professional membership organization that sets clinical standards and provides training in sexual and reproductive health, said that the legislation only seeks to end the threat of criminalization of abortions and that "the 24-week time limit (and the exceptions beyond it) would stay the same."

However, Archbishop Mullally argued that while the intention of Clause 208 "may not be to change the 24-week abortion limit, it undoubtedly risks eroding the safeguards and enforcement of those legal limits and inadvertently undermining the value of human life."

"Decriminalization of abortion is a question of such legal, moral and practical complexity that I do believe that it cannot be properly addressed in an amendment hastily added to another bill," she said.

Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, in a March 18 statement echoed those words, saying, "This change was only made possible after pro-abortion MPs hijacked a government Bill to rush through this radical and seismic change to our abortion laws after just 46 minutes of backbench debate and a late-night debate in the Lords as the Government sought to rush through the final clauses of its Crime and Policing Bill before the end of the parliamentary session".

She added: "There is no public appetite for this change, and it was not part of the Government's manifesto."

"Tonight's vote means there will be no legal deterrent against a woman inducing her own abortion right up to full-term for any reason, including sex-selective abortions. A civilized society does not permit abortion up to birth," Robinson said.

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"Consideration of any alteration to the abortion laws needs public consultations and robust parliamentary processes to ensure that every aspect of this debate is carefully considered and scrutinized," Archbishop Mullally urged parliamentarians.

With the House of Lords voting to advance the legislation, the bill will now move forward in Parliament, where its final form will be debated.