Abortion in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Abortion has been legal on a wide number of grounds in England and Wales
and Scotland
since the Abortion Act 1967
was passed. At the time, this legislation was one of the most liberal law
s regarding abortion
in Europe
. However, the situation in Northern Ireland
is somewhat different (see below).
Clare Dyer said that the Abortion Act 1967 should be revised to allow women who had early medical abortions in England, Scotland and Wales to administer the second dose of drug treatment.
and Scotland
, section 1(1) of the Abortion Act 1967
now reads:
Subsections (a) to (d) were substituted for the former subsections (a) and (b) by section 37(1) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990
.
See also here and here
"The law relating to abortion"
In England and Wales, this means sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
and any rule of law relating to the procurement of abortion.
In Scotland, this means any rule of law relating to the procurement of abortion.
"Terminated by a registered medical practitioner"
See Royal College of Nursing of the UK v DHSS [1981] AC 800, [1981] 2 WLR 279, [1981] 1 All ER 545, [1981] Crim LR 322, HL
.
Place where termination must be carried out
See sections 1(3) to (4).
The opinion of two registered medical practitioners
See section 1(4).
"Good faith"
See R v Smith (John Anthony James), 58 Cr App R 106, CA
.
Determining the risk of injury in ss. (a) & (b)
See section 1(2)
"Risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman", s. 1(1)(a)
In R v British Broadcasting Corporation, ex parte ProLife Alliance, Lord Justice Laws said:
provides:
Section 59 of that Act provides:
"Unlawfully"
For the purposes of sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, and any rule of law relating to the procurement of abortion, anything done with intent to procure a woman's miscarriage (or in the case of a woman carrying more than one foetus, her miscarriage of any foetus) is unlawfully done unless authorised by section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967
and, in the case of a woman carrying more than one foetus, anything done with intent to procure her miscarriage of any foetus is authorised by the said section 1 if the ground for termination of the pregnancy specified in subsection (1)(d) of the said section 1 applies in relation to any foetus and the thing is done for the purpose of procuring the miscarriage of that foetus, or any of the other ground for termination of the pregnancy specified in the said section 1 applies.
"Felony" and "misdemeanor"
See the Criminal Law Act 1967
.
An offence under section 58 is punishable with imprisonment for life or for any shorter term.
An offence under section 59 is punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
, which is caused by an unlawful attempt to procure an abortion is at least manslaughter
.
in relation to broadcasting images of an abortion, see R v British Broadcasting Corporation, ex parte ProLife Alliance [2003] UKHL 23, [2004] 1 AC 185, [2003] 2 WLR 1403, [2003] 2 All ER 977, [2003] UKHRR 758, [2003] HRLR 26, [2003] ACD 65, [2003] EMLR 23, reversing R v British Broadcasting Corporation, ex parte ProLife Alliance [2002] EWCA Civ 297, [2002] 3 WLR 1080, [2002] 2 All ER 756, CA
. That section was repealed by the Communications Act 2003
.
does not apply to Northern Ireland. The pieces of legislation governing abortion in Northern Ireland are sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
and sections 25 and 26 of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1945
(which are derived from the corresponding provisions of Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929
).
The Act allows abortion when necessary to protect the mother's physical and mental health. But, performing an abortion in Northern Ireland is an offence except in specific cases.
Abortion in Northern Ireland is only legal in exceptional circumstances where the life of the pregnant woman is at immediate risk and if there is a long term or permanent risk to her physical or mental health. In a written answer to Jim Allister
the Northern Ireland health minister Edwin Poots
disclosed that 394 abortions were carried out in Northern hospitals for the period 2005/06 to 2009/10 with the footnote that reasons for abortions were not gathered centrally.
An offence under section 58 is punishable with imprisonment for life or for any shorter term.
Politicians from the unionist and nationalist parties in Northern Ireland joined forces on 20 June to block any extension of the Abortion Act 1967 to Northern Ireland where terminations are allowed on a restricted basis.
Ultimately the current situation is that women from Northern Ireland have to travel to Britain or other European countries to access a safe and legal abortion. They then have to pay for procedure and also any associated costs such as travel and accommodation, having to pay anywhere up to the region of £2,000 depending on stage of pregnancy. Approximately 80,000 women have travelled from Northern Ireland to England or other European countries to access a safe and legal abortion since the enactment of the Abortion Act 1967.
The Northern Ireland Assembly has the authority to change the law to bring it in line with the rest of the UK. However, this unlikely to happen with the current membership of the Assembly as the majority of members are against any liberalisation in the law.
, people resident on these islands who need to have an abortion have traveled to the mainland UK since the Abortion Act 1967
.
to have an abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy so long as specific criteria are met: more stringent criteria between 12 and 24 weeks. The criteria were established in the Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law 1997.
to have an abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy so long as specific criteria are met: it is still lawful but with more stringent criteria between 12 and 24 weeks. The criteria were established in the Abortion (Guernsey) Law, 1997.
to have an abortion in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy so long as specific criteria are met. The criteria were established in the Termination of Pregnancy Act 1995.
Later, under Scottish common law, abortion was defined as a criminal offence unless performed for 'reputable medical reasons,' a definition sufficiently broad as to essentially preclude prosecution.
The law on abortion started to be codified in legislation and dealt with in government courts under sections 1 and 2 of Lord Ellenborough's Act (1803). The offences created by this statute were replaced by section 13 of the Offences against the Person Act 1828
. Under section 1 of the 1803 Act and the first offence created by section 13 of the 1828 Act, the crime of abortion was subject, in cases where the woman was proved to have been quick
with child to the death penalty or transportation
for life. Under section 2 of the 1803 Act and the second offence created by section 13 of the 1828 Act (all other cases) the penalty was transportation for 14 years.
Section 13 of the 1828 Act was replaced by section 6 of the Offences against the Person Act 1837
. This section made no distinction between women who were quick with child and those who were not. It eliminated the death penalty as a possible punishment.
Transportation was abolished by the Penal Servitude Act 1857, which replaced it with penal servitude.
Section 6 of the 1837 Act was replaced by section 58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
. Section 59 of that created a new preparatory offence of procuring poison or instruments with intent to procure abortion.
From 1870 there was a steady decline in fertility, linked not to a rise in the use of artificial contraception but to more traditional methods such as withdrawal and abstinence (Szreter; Fisher). This was linked to changes in the perception of the relative costs of childrearing. Of course, women did find themselves with unwanted pregnancies. Abortifacient
s were discreetly advertised and there was a considerable body of folklore about methods of inducing miscarriages. Amongst working class women violent purgatives were popular, pennyroyal
, aloe
s and turpentine
were all used. Other methods to induce miscarriage were very hot baths and gin
, extreme exertion, a controlled fall down a flight of stairs, or veterinary medicines. So-called 'backstreet' abortionists were fairly common, although their bloody efforts could be fatal. Estimates of the number of illegal abortions varied widely: by one estimate, 100,000 women made efforts to procure a miscarriage in 1914, usually by drugs.
The criminality of abortion was redoubled in 1929, when the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929
was passed. The Act criminalised the deliberate destruction of a Child "capable of being born alive". This was to close a lacuna in the law, Identified by Lord Darling, which allowed for infants to be killed during birth, which would mean that the perpetrator could neither be prosecuted for abortion or murder. There was included in the Act the presumption that all children in utero over 28 weeks gestation were capable of being born alive. Children in utero below this gestation were dealt with by way of evidence presented to determine whether or not they were capable of being born alive. In 1987, the Court of Appeal refused to grant an inunction to stop an abortion, ruling that a fetus between 18 and 21 weeks was not capable of being born alive. In May 2007, a woman from Levenshulme
, Manchester
who in early 2006 had an illegal late-term abortion at 7½ months was convicted of child destruction
under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929. The case is believed to be the first of its kind in Britain.
In 1938, the decision in Rex v. Bourne allowed for further considerations to be taken into account. This case related to an abortion performed on a girl who had been raped. It extended the defence to abortion to include "mental and physical wreck" (McNaghtan LJ)
The gynaecologist
concerned, Aleck Bourne
, later becomes a founder member of the anti-abortion group SPUC (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children) in 1966. The pro-choice group, the Abortion Law Reform Association
, was formed in 1936.
In 1939 the Birkett Committee recommended a change to abortion laws but the intervention of World War II
meant that all plans were shelved. Post-war, after decades of stasis certain high profile tragedies, including thalidomide
, and social changes brought the issue of abortion back into the political arena.
sought to clarify the law. Introduced by David Steel
and subject to heated debate it allowed for legal abortion on a number of grounds, with the added protection of free provision through the National Health Service
. The Act was passed on 27 October 1967 and came into effect on 27 April 1968.
The Act provided a defence for Doctors performing an abortion on any of the following grounds:
Before the Human Fertillisation and Embryology Act 1990 amended the Act, the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929 acted as a buffer to the Abortion Act 1967. This meant that abortions could not be carried out if the child was "capable of being born alive". There was therefore no statutory limit put into the Abortion Act 1967, the limit being that which the courts decided as the time at which a child could be born alive. The C v S case in 1987 reconfirmed that at 19–22 weeks a foetus was not capable of being born alive.
The Act required that the procedure must be certified by two doctors before being performed.
The Act was amended in 1990 by the Human Fertillisation and Embryology Act 1990. The effect was that the Infant Life Preservation Act was decoupled from the Abortion Act thus allowing abortion to full term for disability, life of the mother and health of the mother. Some Members of Parliament claimed not to have been aware of the vast change the decoupling of the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929 would have on the Abortion Act 1967, particularly in relation to the unborn disabled child. There was a failed attempt to revisit the amendment and have it overturned.
. The time limits were lowered from 28 weeks to 24 for most cases to reflect alleged improvements in medical technology justifying the lowering. Restrictions were removed for late abortions in cases of risk to life, fetal abnormality, or grave physical and mental injury to the woman.
Since 1967, members of Parliament have introduced a number of private member's bill
s to change the abortion law. Four resulted in substantive debate (1975, 1977, 1979 and 1987) but all failed. The Lane Committee investigated the workings of the Act in 1974 and declared its support.
In May 2008, MPs voted to retain the current legal limit of 24 weeks. Amendments proposing reductions to 22 weeks and 20 weeks were defeated by 304 to 233 votes and 332 to 190 votes respectively.
Post 1967 there was a rapid increase in the annual number of legal abortions. The rate of increase fell from the early 1970s and actually dipped from 1991-95 before rising again. The age group with the highest number of abortions per 1000 is amongst those aged 20–24. 2006 statistics for England & Wales revealed that 48% of abortions occurred to women over the age of 25, 29% were aged 20–24; 21% aged under 20 and 2% under 16.
In 2004, there were 185,415 abortions in England and Wales
. 87% of abortions were performed at 12 weeks or less and 1.6% (or 2,914 abortions) occurred after 20 weeks. 82% of abortions were carried out by the National Health Service
.
The overwhelming majority of abortions (95% in 2004 for England and Wales
) were certified under the statutory ground of risk of injury to the mental or physical health of the pregnant woman.
Five years on to 2009, and the number of abortions has risen to 189,100. Of this number, 2,085 are as a result of doctors deciding that there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
/Populus
survey, Britons' feelings on abortion are:
NB: The survey compares the results to respondents' voting habits for mainland parties, indicating the possibility that Northern Ireland was not included in this survey.
/Daily Telegraph survey, Britons' feelings toward abortion by gestational age
are:
Asked whether the limit should extend to the period 20–24 weeks of gestation regardless of her circumstances
was approved for use in Britain in 1991), from the seventh up to the fifteenth week suction
or vacuum aspiration is most common (largely replacing the more damaging dilation and curettage
technique), for the fifteenth to the eighteenth weeks surgical dilation and evacuation
is most common.
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
since the Abortion Act 1967
Abortion Act 1967
The Abortion Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom legalising abortions by registered practitioners, and regulating the free provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service ....
was passed. At the time, this legislation was one of the most liberal law
Abortion law
Abortion law is legislation and common law which pertains to the provision of abortion. Abortion has been a controversial subject in many societies through history because of the moral, ethical, practical, and political power issues that surround it. It has been banned frequently and otherwise...
s regarding abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. However, the situation in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
is somewhat different (see below).
Clare Dyer said that the Abortion Act 1967 should be revised to allow women who had early medical abortions in England, Scotland and Wales to administer the second dose of drug treatment.
- The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (which applies in England and Wales and Northern Ireland) makes it an offence to intentionally procure a miscarriage, either by selfadministering or providing another with "any poison or other noxious thing" or using "any instrument or other means whatsoever".
- The Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 (which applies in England and Wales) makes it an offence to "destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive”, but it is a defence to terminate a pregnancy "in good faith for the purpose […] of preserving the life of the mother". If a woman had been pregnant for a period of twenty-eight weeks or more, that "shall be primâ facie proof that she was at that time pregnant of a child capable of being born alive".
- The Abortion Act 1967 (which applies in England and Wales and Scotland) creates a series of defences in relation to abortion "when a pregnancy is terminated by a registered medical practitioner if two registered medical practitioners are of the opinion, formed in good faith," – except in an emergency – that one of the stipulated grounds is met. These grounds were originally given a letter, A to G, to which medical practitioners still refer.
- The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 included amendments to the Abortion Act 1967. The most significant amendment was the reduction of the upper time limit on most abortions from 28 weeks of gestation to 24 weeks. The grounds for abortion, although reordered in the Act, are still referred to, in medical practice, by their original designations.
Section 1(1) of the Abortion Act 1967
In England and WalesEngland and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, section 1(1) of the Abortion Act 1967
Abortion Act 1967
The Abortion Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom legalising abortions by registered practitioners, and regulating the free provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service ....
now reads:
Subsections (a) to (d) were substituted for the former subsections (a) and (b) by section 37(1) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990
The 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Coverage:The act covers several areas:# The licensing of human fertility treatment involving the use of donated genetic material ....
.
See also here and here
"The law relating to abortion"
In England and Wales, this means sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
Offences Against The Person Act 1861
The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...
and any rule of law relating to the procurement of abortion.
In Scotland, this means any rule of law relating to the procurement of abortion.
"Terminated by a registered medical practitioner"
See Royal College of Nursing of the UK v DHSS [1981] AC 800, [1981] 2 WLR 279, [1981] 1 All ER 545, [1981] Crim LR 322, HL
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
.
Place where termination must be carried out
See sections 1(3) to (4).
The opinion of two registered medical practitioners
See section 1(4).
"Good faith"
See R v Smith (John Anthony James), 58 Cr App R 106, CA
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
.
Determining the risk of injury in ss. (a) & (b)
See section 1(2)
"Risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman", s. 1(1)(a)
In R v British Broadcasting Corporation, ex parte ProLife Alliance, Lord Justice Laws said:
Sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
Section 58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861Offences Against The Person Act 1861
The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...
provides:
- 58. Every woman, being with child, who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, shall unlawfully administer to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or shall unlawfully use any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent, and whosoever, with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman whether she be or be not with child, shall unlawfully administer to her or cause to be taken by her any poison or other noxious thing, or unlawfully use any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent, shall be guilty of felonyFelonyA felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
, and being convicted thereof shall be liable . . . to be kept in penal servitude for life . . .
Section 59 of that Act provides:
- 59. Whosoever shall unlawfully supply or procure any poison or other noxious thing, or any instrument or thing whatsoever, knowing that the same is intended to be unlawfully used or employed with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman, whether she be or be not with child, shall be guilty of a misdemeanorMisdemeanorA misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
, and being convicted thereof shall be liable . . . to be kept in penal servitude . . .
"Unlawfully"
For the purposes of sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, and any rule of law relating to the procurement of abortion, anything done with intent to procure a woman's miscarriage (or in the case of a woman carrying more than one foetus, her miscarriage of any foetus) is unlawfully done unless authorised by section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967
Abortion Act 1967
The Abortion Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom legalising abortions by registered practitioners, and regulating the free provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service ....
and, in the case of a woman carrying more than one foetus, anything done with intent to procure her miscarriage of any foetus is authorised by the said section 1 if the ground for termination of the pregnancy specified in subsection (1)(d) of the said section 1 applies in relation to any foetus and the thing is done for the purpose of procuring the miscarriage of that foetus, or any of the other ground for termination of the pregnancy specified in the said section 1 applies.
"Felony" and "misdemeanor"
See the Criminal Law Act 1967
Criminal Law Act 1967
The Criminal Law Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. However, with some minor exceptions, it generally applies to only England and Wales. It made some major changes to English criminal law...
.
Sentence
An offence under section 58 is punishable with imprisonment for life or for any shorter term.
An offence under section 59 is punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
The Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929
Homicide
A death, of a person in beingBorn alive rule
The "born alive" rule is a legal principle that holds that various aspects of the criminal law, such as the statutes relating to homicide and to assault, apply only to a child that is "born alive"...
, which is caused by an unlawful attempt to procure an abortion is at least manslaughter
Manslaughter in English law
In the English law of homicide, manslaughter is a less serious offence than murder, the differential being between levels of fault based on the mens rea . In England and Wales, the usual practice is to prefer a charge of murder, with the judge or defence able to introduce manslaughter as an option...
.
Broadcasting
As to the effect of section 6(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 1990Broadcasting Act 1990
The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, often regarded by both its supporters and its critics as a quintessential example of Thatcherism. The aim of the Act was to reform the entire structure of British broadcasting; British television, in particular, had earlier been...
in relation to broadcasting images of an abortion, see R v British Broadcasting Corporation, ex parte ProLife Alliance [2003] UKHL 23, [2004] 1 AC 185, [2003] 2 WLR 1403, [2003] 2 All ER 977, [2003] UKHRR 758, [2003] HRLR 26, [2003] ACD 65, [2003] EMLR 23, reversing R v British Broadcasting Corporation, ex parte ProLife Alliance [2002] EWCA Civ 297, [2002] 3 WLR 1080, [2002] 2 All ER 756, CA
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...
. That section was repealed by the Communications Act 2003
Communications Act 2003
The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It gave regulation body Ofcom its full powers. Among other measures, it introduced legal recognition of Community Radio and paved the way for full-time Community Radio services in the UK; as well as controversially...
.
Northern Ireland
The Abortion Act 1967Abortion Act 1967
The Abortion Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom legalising abortions by registered practitioners, and regulating the free provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service ....
does not apply to Northern Ireland. The pieces of legislation governing abortion in Northern Ireland are sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
Offences Against The Person Act 1861
The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...
and sections 25 and 26 of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1945
Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1945
The Criminal Justice Act 1945 is an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.Section 25 of the Act creates the offence of child destruction, which states:...
(which are derived from the corresponding provisions of Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929
Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929
The Infant Life Act 1929 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates the offence of child destruction.It also amended the law so that an abortion carried out in good faith, for the sole purpose of preserving the life of the mother, would not be an offence.-Parliamentary...
).
The Act allows abortion when necessary to protect the mother's physical and mental health. But, performing an abortion in Northern Ireland is an offence except in specific cases.
Abortion in Northern Ireland is only legal in exceptional circumstances where the life of the pregnant woman is at immediate risk and if there is a long term or permanent risk to her physical or mental health. In a written answer to Jim Allister
Jim Allister
James Hugh "Jim" Allister, QC is a Northern Ireland Unionist politician and senior barrister. He is the leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice political party, serving as MLA in the Northern Ireland Assembly, where he represents Antrim North.He was formerly a member of the Democratic Unionist...
the Northern Ireland health minister Edwin Poots
Edwin Poots
Alderman Edwin Poots MLA is a Northern Irish politician and a Democratic Unionist Party Member of the Legislative Assembly for Lagan Valley. He is one of three DUP MLAs for Lagan Valley.-Biography:...
disclosed that 394 abortions were carried out in Northern hospitals for the period 2005/06 to 2009/10 with the footnote that reasons for abortions were not gathered centrally.
An offence under section 58 is punishable with imprisonment for life or for any shorter term.
Politicians from the unionist and nationalist parties in Northern Ireland joined forces on 20 June to block any extension of the Abortion Act 1967 to Northern Ireland where terminations are allowed on a restricted basis.
Ultimately the current situation is that women from Northern Ireland have to travel to Britain or other European countries to access a safe and legal abortion. They then have to pay for procedure and also any associated costs such as travel and accommodation, having to pay anywhere up to the region of £2,000 depending on stage of pregnancy. Approximately 80,000 women have travelled from Northern Ireland to England or other European countries to access a safe and legal abortion since the enactment of the Abortion Act 1967.
The Northern Ireland Assembly has the authority to change the law to bring it in line with the rest of the UK. However, this unlikely to happen with the current membership of the Assembly as the majority of members are against any liberalisation in the law.
Channel Islands
Although Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man are not part of the United Kingdom, as they are part of the Common Travel AreaCommon Travel Area
The Common Travel Area is a passport-free zone that comprises the islands of Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The area's internal borders are subject to minimal or non-existent border controls and can normally be crossed by Irish and British citizens with only...
, people resident on these islands who need to have an abortion have traveled to the mainland UK since the Abortion Act 1967
Abortion Act 1967
The Abortion Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom legalising abortions by registered practitioners, and regulating the free provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service ....
.
Jersey
It is lawful in JerseyJersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
to have an abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy so long as specific criteria are met: more stringent criteria between 12 and 24 weeks. The criteria were established in the Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law 1997.
Guernsey
It is lawful in GuernseyGuernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
to have an abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy so long as specific criteria are met: it is still lawful but with more stringent criteria between 12 and 24 weeks. The criteria were established in the Abortion (Guernsey) Law, 1997.
Isle of Man
It is lawful in the Isle of ManIsle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
to have an abortion in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy so long as specific criteria are met. The criteria were established in the Termination of Pregnancy Act 1995.
History
Abortion was dealt with by the Ecclesiastical Courts in England, Scotland and Wales until the reformation. It was dealt with under the laws of the Catholic Church. The Ecclesiastical Courts dealt mainly with the issue due to problems of evidence in such cases. The Ecclesiastical Courts had wider evidential rules and more discretion regarding sentencing. Although the Ecclesiastical Courts heard most cases of abortion, some cases such as the Twinslayers Case were heard in the Secular Courts. The old Ecclesiastical Courts were made defunct after the Reformation.Later, under Scottish common law, abortion was defined as a criminal offence unless performed for 'reputable medical reasons,' a definition sufficiently broad as to essentially preclude prosecution.
The law on abortion started to be codified in legislation and dealt with in government courts under sections 1 and 2 of Lord Ellenborough's Act (1803). The offences created by this statute were replaced by section 13 of the Offences against the Person Act 1828
Offences Against the Person Act 1828
The Offences against the Person Act 1828 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...
. Under section 1 of the 1803 Act and the first offence created by section 13 of the 1828 Act, the crime of abortion was subject, in cases where the woman was proved to have been quick
Quickening
Quickening is the earliest perception of fetal movement by a mother during pregnancy Quickening may also refer to:* Quickening , Final Fantasy XIIs incarnation of "Limit Breaks"...
with child to the death penalty or transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
for life. Under section 2 of the 1803 Act and the second offence created by section 13 of the 1828 Act (all other cases) the penalty was transportation for 14 years.
Section 13 of the 1828 Act was replaced by section 6 of the Offences against the Person Act 1837
Offences Against the Person Act 1837
The Offences against the Person Act 1837 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. This section made no distinction between women who were quick with child and those who were not. It eliminated the death penalty as a possible punishment.
Transportation was abolished by the Penal Servitude Act 1857, which replaced it with penal servitude.
Section 6 of the 1837 Act was replaced by section 58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861
Offences Against The Person Act 1861
The Offences against the Person Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It consolidated provisions related to offences against the person from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act...
. Section 59 of that created a new preparatory offence of procuring poison or instruments with intent to procure abortion.
From 1870 there was a steady decline in fertility, linked not to a rise in the use of artificial contraception but to more traditional methods such as withdrawal and abstinence (Szreter; Fisher). This was linked to changes in the perception of the relative costs of childrearing. Of course, women did find themselves with unwanted pregnancies. Abortifacient
Abortifacient
An abortifacient is a substance that induces abortion. Abortifacients for animals that have mated undesirably are known as mismating shots....
s were discreetly advertised and there was a considerable body of folklore about methods of inducing miscarriages. Amongst working class women violent purgatives were popular, pennyroyal
Pennyroyal
Pennyroyal refers to two plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. For the American species, see American pennyroyal. The European pennyroyal, Mentha pulegium, , is a plant in the mint genus, within the family Lamiaceae. Crushed Pennyroyal leaves exhibit a very strong fragrance similar to spearmint...
, aloe
Aloe
Aloe , also Aloë, is a genus containing about 500 species of flowering succulent plants. The most common and well known of these is Aloe vera, or "true aloe"....
s and turpentine
Turpentine
Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly pine trees. It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene...
were all used. Other methods to induce miscarriage were very hot baths and gin
Gin
Gin is a spirit which derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries . Although several different styles of gin have existed since its origins, it is broadly differentiated into two basic legal categories...
, extreme exertion, a controlled fall down a flight of stairs, or veterinary medicines. So-called 'backstreet' abortionists were fairly common, although their bloody efforts could be fatal. Estimates of the number of illegal abortions varied widely: by one estimate, 100,000 women made efforts to procure a miscarriage in 1914, usually by drugs.
The criminality of abortion was redoubled in 1929, when the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929
Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929
The Infant Life Act 1929 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates the offence of child destruction.It also amended the law so that an abortion carried out in good faith, for the sole purpose of preserving the life of the mother, would not be an offence.-Parliamentary...
was passed. The Act criminalised the deliberate destruction of a Child "capable of being born alive". This was to close a lacuna in the law, Identified by Lord Darling, which allowed for infants to be killed during birth, which would mean that the perpetrator could neither be prosecuted for abortion or murder. There was included in the Act the presumption that all children in utero over 28 weeks gestation were capable of being born alive. Children in utero below this gestation were dealt with by way of evidence presented to determine whether or not they were capable of being born alive. In 1987, the Court of Appeal refused to grant an inunction to stop an abortion, ruling that a fetus between 18 and 21 weeks was not capable of being born alive. In May 2007, a woman from Levenshulme
Levenshulme
Levenshulme is an urban area of the City of Manchester, in North West England. It borders Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish, and is approximately halfway between Stockport and Manchester City Centre on the A6 road. The A6 bisects Levenshulme. The Manchester to London railway...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
who in early 2006 had an illegal late-term abortion at 7½ months was convicted of child destruction
Child destruction
Child destruction is the name of a statutory offence in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Hong Kong. The offence of that name has been abolished and replaced in Victoria....
under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929. The case is believed to be the first of its kind in Britain.
In 1938, the decision in Rex v. Bourne allowed for further considerations to be taken into account. This case related to an abortion performed on a girl who had been raped. It extended the defence to abortion to include "mental and physical wreck" (McNaghtan LJ)
The gynaecologist
Gynaecology
Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...
concerned, Aleck Bourne
Aleck Bourne
Aleck William Bourne was a prominent British gynaecologist and writer, known for his 1938 trial, a landmark case, for performing an illegal abortion on a 14-year-old girl rape victim. He later became an pro-life activist....
, later becomes a founder member of the anti-abortion group SPUC (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children) in 1966. The pro-choice group, the Abortion Law Reform Association
Abortion Law Reform Association
The Abortion Law Reform Association is a former advocacy organisation which promoted access to abortion in the United Kingdom. It campaigned effectively after World War II for the elimination of legal obstacles to abortion and the peak of its work was the Abortion Act 1967.In Autumn, 2003, ALRA...
, was formed in 1936.
In 1939 the Birkett Committee recommended a change to abortion laws but the intervention of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
meant that all plans were shelved. Post-war, after decades of stasis certain high profile tragedies, including thalidomide
Thalidomide
Thalidomide was introduced as a sedative drug in the late 1950s that was typically used to cure morning sickness. In 1961, it was withdrawn due to teratogenicity and neuropathy. There is now a growing clinical interest in thalidomide, and it is introduced as an immunomodulatory agent used...
, and social changes brought the issue of abortion back into the political arena.
The 1967 Act
The Abortion Act 1967Abortion Act 1967
The Abortion Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom legalising abortions by registered practitioners, and regulating the free provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service ....
sought to clarify the law. Introduced by David Steel
David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood, KT, KBE, PC is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 until its merger with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrats...
and subject to heated debate it allowed for legal abortion on a number of grounds, with the added protection of free provision through the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
. The Act was passed on 27 October 1967 and came into effect on 27 April 1968.
The Act provided a defence for Doctors performing an abortion on any of the following grounds:
- To save the woman's life
- To prevent grave permanent injury to the woman's physical or mental healthMental healthMental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
- Under 28 weeks to avoid injury to the physical or mental health of the woman
- Under 28 weeks to avoid injury to the physical or mental health of the existing child(ren)
- If the child was likely to be severely physically or mentally handicapped
Before the Human Fertillisation and Embryology Act 1990 amended the Act, the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929 acted as a buffer to the Abortion Act 1967. This meant that abortions could not be carried out if the child was "capable of being born alive". There was therefore no statutory limit put into the Abortion Act 1967, the limit being that which the courts decided as the time at which a child could be born alive. The C v S case in 1987 reconfirmed that at 19–22 weeks a foetus was not capable of being born alive.
The Act required that the procedure must be certified by two doctors before being performed.
The Act was amended in 1990 by the Human Fertillisation and Embryology Act 1990. The effect was that the Infant Life Preservation Act was decoupled from the Abortion Act thus allowing abortion to full term for disability, life of the mother and health of the mother. Some Members of Parliament claimed not to have been aware of the vast change the decoupling of the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929 would have on the Abortion Act 1967, particularly in relation to the unborn disabled child. There was a failed attempt to revisit the amendment and have it overturned.
Later laws
Changes to the Abortion Act 1967 were introduced in Parliament through the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990
The 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Coverage:The act covers several areas:# The licensing of human fertility treatment involving the use of donated genetic material ....
. The time limits were lowered from 28 weeks to 24 for most cases to reflect alleged improvements in medical technology justifying the lowering. Restrictions were removed for late abortions in cases of risk to life, fetal abnormality, or grave physical and mental injury to the woman.
Since 1967, members of Parliament have introduced a number of private member's bill
Private Member's Bill
A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...
s to change the abortion law. Four resulted in substantive debate (1975, 1977, 1979 and 1987) but all failed. The Lane Committee investigated the workings of the Act in 1974 and declared its support.
In May 2008, MPs voted to retain the current legal limit of 24 weeks. Amendments proposing reductions to 22 weeks and 20 weeks were defeated by 304 to 233 votes and 332 to 190 votes respectively.
Number of abortions
In 2004, there were 185,415 abortions in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
. 87% of abortions were performed at 12 weeks or less and 1.6% (or 2,914 abortions) occurred after 20 weeks. 82% of abortions were carried out by the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
.
The overwhelming majority of abortions (95% in 2004 for England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
) were certified under the statutory ground of risk of injury to the mental or physical health of the pregnant woman.
Five years on to 2009, and the number of abortions has risen to 189,100. Of this number, 2,085 are as a result of doctors deciding that there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
Attitudes to abortion
2004 Times/Populus poll
According to a 2004 The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
/Populus
Populus Ltd
Populus is a market research company in the United Kingdom formed in 2003. Populus co-founded the British Polling Council in 2004 and regularly publishes opinion polls on voting intention and as well as other political and commercial issues. Clients have included national brands such as the AA and...
survey, Britons' feelings on abortion are:
- 75% of Britons believe abortion should be legal
- 38% of Britons believe abortion should "always" be legal
- 36% of Britons believe abortion should "mostly" be legal
- 23% of Britons believe abortion should be illegal
- 20% of Britons believe abortion should "mostly" be illegal
- 4% of Britons believe abortion should "always" be illegal
NB: The survey compares the results to respondents' voting habits for mainland parties, indicating the possibility that Northern Ireland was not included in this survey.
2005 YouGov/Daily Telegraph poll
According to an August 2005 YouGovYouGov
YouGov, formerly known as PollingPoint in the United States, is an international internet-based market research firm launched in the UK in May 2000 by Stephan Shakespeare, now Chief Executive Officer, and Nadhim Zahawi...
/Daily Telegraph survey, Britons' feelings toward abortion by gestational age
Gestational age
Gestational age relates to the age of an embryo or fetus . There is some ambiguity in how it is defined:*In embryology, gestational age is the time elapsed since conception. This interval is also termed fertilisation age....
are:
- 30% would back a measure to reduce the legal limit for abortion to 20 weeks
- 25% support maintaining the current limit of 24 weeks
- 19% support a limit of 12 weeks
- 9% support a limit of fewer than 12 weeks
- 6% responded that abortion should never be allowed
- 2% said it should be permitted throughout pregnancy
2009 MORI poll
A 2009 poll by MORI surveyed women's attitudes to abortion. Asking if all women should have the right of access abortion- 37% Strongly agree
- 20% Tend to agree
- 12% Neither agree nor disagree
- 7% Tend to disagree
- 12% Strongly disagree
- 3% Don't know
- 9% preferred not to answer
Asked whether the limit should extend to the period 20–24 weeks of gestation regardless of her circumstances
- 22% agreed
- 61% disagreed
Approved methods
Methodology is time related - up to the ninth week medical abortion can be used (mifepristoneMifepristone
Mifepristone is a synthetic steroid compound used as a pharmaceutical. It is a progesterone receptor antagonist used as an abortifacient in the first months of pregnancy, and in smaller doses as an emergency contraceptive. During early trials, it was known as RU-38486 or simply RU-486, its...
was approved for use in Britain in 1991), from the seventh up to the fifteenth week suction
Suction-aspiration abortion
Vacuum or suction aspiration uses aspiration to remove uterine contents through the cervix. It may be used as a method of induced abortion, a therapeutic procedure used after miscarriage, or a procedure to obtain a sample for endometrial biopsy. The rate of infection is lower than any other...
or vacuum aspiration is most common (largely replacing the more damaging dilation and curettage
Dilation and curettage
Dilation and curettage refers to the dilation of the cervix and surgical removal of part of the lining of the uterus and/or contents of the uterus by scraping and scooping . It is a diagnostic gynecological procedure.D&C normally is referred to a procedure involving a curette, also called sharp...
technique), for the fifteenth to the eighteenth weeks surgical dilation and evacuation
Dilation and evacuation
Dilation and evacuation literally refers to the dilation of the cervix and surgical evacuation of the contents of the uterus...
is most common.
See also
- Lobbying in the United KingdomLobbying in the United KingdomLobbying in the United Kingdom plays a significant role in the formation of legislation and a wide variety of commercial organisations, lobby groups 'lobby' for particular policies and decisions by Parliament and other political organs at state and local levels. It is also possible, but less...
- AbortionAbortionAbortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
- Abortion by country
- Abortion lawAbortion lawAbortion law is legislation and common law which pertains to the provision of abortion. Abortion has been a controversial subject in many societies through history because of the moral, ethical, practical, and political power issues that surround it. It has been banned frequently and otherwise...
- Abortion debateAbortion debateThe abortion debate refers to discussion and controversy surrounding the moral and legal status of abortion. The two main groups involved in the abortion debate are the self-described "pro-choice" movement and the "pro-life" movement...
- Religion and abortionReligion and abortionMany religious traditions have taken a stance on abortion, and these stances span a broad spectrum as highlighted below.-Buddhism:There is no single Buddhist view concerning abortion. Traditional sources, such as the Buddhist monastic code, hold that life begins at conception and that abortion,...
External links
- UK National Statistics Office Abortion Data (England and Wales) - http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nscl.asp?ID=6249
- Scottish Health Statistics Abortion Data (Scotland) - http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/info3.jsp?pContentID=1918&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&