British MPs are increasing the pressure on the UK government to reform abortion legislation in Northern Ireland.

Amid the ongoing political impasse at Stormont, a number of efforts are being made in Westminster this week to change the restrictive laws in the North.

Currently, abortion is illegal in all but a limited number of circumstances in Northern Ireland.

MPs today voted by 208 to 123 votes to pass the first reading of an abortion bill in the House of Commons, which aims to repeal parts of an act dating back to 1861.

Members of the DUP - which has strongly opposed reform of the North's abortion laws - were among those who voted against the bill.

If the law ultimately passes through all required stages and votes in the British parliament, it would decriminalise abortion across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

However, The Belfast Telegraph reports that the bill is unlikely to become law unless it gains government support or sufficient parliamentary time.

The speech I made earlier proposing my Abortion Bill to decriminalise abortion in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is at https://t.co/6lHCAJW3Hq. The @HouseofCommons voted 208-123 in favour. #nowforNI #wetrustwomen pic.twitter.com/M2kAaPjvFe

— Diana Johnson (@DianaJohnsonMP) October 23, 2018

Labour MP Diana Johnson, who introduced the legislation, said: "It is time to remove Victorian, misogynistic stigma from our abortion laws.

"My aim is simple - women able to choose what happens to their own bodies: confident, not criminalised, supported, not stigmatised; women able to access professional advice and medical care that is regulated effectively; and an Act of Parliament that is fit for now, not for 51 years ago, and certainly not for 157 years ago."

According to BBC, other Labour MPs are separately looking to introduce amendments to another bill tomorrow, aimed at changing both abortion and same-sex marriage laws in the North.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International is calling today's vote one for the health, equality and rights of women in the North.

Grainne Teggart, Northern Ireland Campaigns Manager at Amnesty International UK, said: "This sends a clear message to the UK Government that it must act to change Northern Ireland’s inhumane abortion law.

"If the Government doesn’t give the Bill the parliamentary time it needs as it moves towards its second reading, it will be a huge betrayal.”