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 laws regarding abortion in Europe. However, the situation in Northern Ireland is somewhat different (see below).
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History
Abortion was historically 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.[1] 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.[when?]
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 penal 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 eliminated the death penalty as a possible punishment, and made no distinction between women who were quick with child and those who were not.
That section was replaced by sections 58 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, which eliminated exile as a possible punishment and made abortion or attempts to "procure a miscarriage" illegal under all and any circumstances, providing:
- 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 felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable … to be kept in penal servitude for life ....
Section 59 of that created a new preparatory offence of procuring poison or instruments with intent to procure abortion:
- 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 misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof shall be liable ... to be kept in penal servitude ....
These provisions remain the law. 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 lined to changes in the perception of the relative costs of childrearing. Of course, women did find themselves with unwanted pregnancies. Abortifacients 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, aloes 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.[2] 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 1989 the C v S (Court of Appeal) case set the gestation at between 20 and 22 weeks gestation for capable of being born alive. Social, psychological and other factors were still discounted. However it was not until May 2007 that a woman from Levenshulme, Manchester suspected of having had an illegal late-term abortion in early 2006 was convicted of child destruction under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act of 1929. The case is believed to be the first of its kind in Britain.[3][4][5]
The Bourne Ruling in 1938 allowed for further considerations to be taken into account. The ruling came from the 1938 case of Rex v. Bourne following an abortion performed on a girl who had been raped. It extended the defence to abortion to include "mental and Physiccal wreck" (McNaghtan LJ R v Bourne 1938 Crown Court)
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.
The 1967 Act
The Abortion Act 1967 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:
- To save the woman's life
- To prevent grave permanent injury to the woman's physical or mental health
- 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
Until 1990 when the HFE Bill amended the Act the Infant Life Preservation Act acted as a buffer to the Abortion Act. 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, 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 1989 placed "capable of Being born alive" at about 22/23 weeks.[6]
The Act required that the procedure must be certified by two doctors before being performed.
The Act was amended in 1990 by the HFE 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 would have on the Abortion Act, particularly in relation to the unborn disabled child[7]. There was a failed attempt to revisit the amendment and have it overturned.[8]
Later laws
Changes to the 1967 Abortion Act were introduced in Parliament through the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. 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 bills 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.[9]
Statistics
Number of abortions
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.[10]
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.[11]
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.[11]
Attitudes to abortion
2004 Times/Populus poll
According to a 2004 The Times/Populus survey, Britons' feelings on abortion are:[12]
- 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 YouGov/Daily Telegraph survey, Britons' feelings toward abortion by gestational age are: [13]
- 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
2006 MORI poll
A 2006 survey shows most people are still against any further restriction of abortion laws in the UK, but the survey is cited by the Catholic Church in England and Wales as evidence of a growing unease with abortion. [14]
According to the survey:
- 42% of British men and women believe the legal limit for an abortion should be cut (i.e abortion more restricted).
- 47% of British women believe the legal limit for an abortion should be cut
- 36% of British men believe the legal limit for an abortion should be cut
- 10% of British women believe that abortion should be "outlawed altogether"
Approved methods
Methodology is time related - up to the ninth week medical abortion can be used (mifepristone 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 D & C technique), for the fifteenth to the eighteenth weeks surgical D & E is most common.
Northern Ireland
The 1967 Act does not apply to Northern Ireland, where the 1861 Act and the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1945 are the defining principles.[15][16] Efforts by some British politicians to legalise abortion in Northern Ireland have not been successful due to opposition from nationalist and unionist communities, uniting the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionist Party, the Roman Catholic Church and the Democratic Unionist Party. The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland regards abortion as a conscience issue, and permits its members to vote either way on the issue. The loyalist Progressive Unionist Party supports the extension of the 1967 Act. Sinn Féin policy on abortion has changed a number of times in recent years.
The Northern Ireland Assembly debated the issue of abortion in October 2007 as a result of a motion tabled by Jeffrey Donaldson and Iris Robinson.[17] The motion, which rejected draft guidelines on abortion issued by the Department of Health in January of the same year, was passed.[18][19] Precious Life, a pro-life group, stated that this outcome represented a "victory for unborn children".[20][21]
Each year, there are between seventy and eighty abortions performed legally in Northern Ireland, and about two thousand women travel to England or Wales for an abortion.[22] The Department of Health Statistics for the year 2006 show that 1,295 women from Northern Ireland accessed abortion in Great Britain.[23]
See also
- Lobbying in the United Kingdom
- Abortion
- Abortion by country
- Abortion law
- Abortion debate
- Religion and abortion
References
- ^ http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521894131
- ^ http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1928/jul/12/child-destruction-bill-hl
- ^ "Mother of three sentenced for child destruction in landmark case." (May 24, 2007). Greater Manchester Police. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ "Baby destruction woman sentenced." (May 24, 2007). BBC News. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ Britten, Nick. (May 27, 2007). "Jury convicts mother who destroyed foetus." The Telegraph. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ c v s Court of Appeal 1989
- ^ Anne Widecome and pro life MPs complained
- ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm198990/cmhansrd/1990-06-21/Debate-16.html
- ^ BBC NEWS | Politics | MPs reject cut in abortion limit
- ^ Government Statistical Service for the Department of Health. (June 19, 2007). Abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ a b http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/75/74/04117574.pdf
- ^ "Q&A: Abortion law." (June 21, 2006). BBC News. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ YouGov. (2005-07-30). YouGov/Daily Telegraph Survey Results. Retrieved 2006-01-11.
- ^ Campbell, Denis, & Hinsliff, Gaby. (January 29, 2006). "Women demand tougher laws to curb abortions." The Guardian. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ Q&A: Abortion in NI. (June 13 , 2001). BBC News. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ Murdoch, Alan. (April 1, 1995). Northern Ireland MPs fight abortion. British Medical Journal, 310 (6983), 822-823. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ Northern Ireland Assembly. (October 22, 2007). Official Report 22 October 2007. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ "Assembly call over abortion guide." (October 22, 2007). BBC News. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ The Department of Health, Social Services, & Public Safety. (January 16, 2007). "Department Issues Draft Guidelines on Termination of Pregnancy." Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ "Northern Ireland passes anti-abortion motion in 'victory' for unborn children." (October 25, 2007). Catholic News Agency. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ "Northern Ireland Assembly passes anti abortion motion." (October 25, 2007). ciNews. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ Dyer, Clare. (July 8, 2003). "Court rejects call to clarify Ulster abortion law." The Guardian. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
- ^ Department of Health
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&
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