Summary
Summary Law and Ethics on Abortion
- Module
- Medical Law (456Z0017)
- Institution
- The Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU)
Law and Ethics on Abortion UK.
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Abortion - IntroductionBackground and Context
Abortion Act 1967
- Did not legalise abortion
- It did not de-criminalise abortion at all
- It provided a statutory defence to certain offences under the Offences against
the Person Act 1861 & Infant life (preservation) Act 1929 (i.e., doctors
performing abortions will not be charged with those crimes under those acts
which they will have been)
Facts + Statistics
In medicine: abortion is the premature exit of the products of conceptions from the
uterus. It refers to the loss of pregnancy not why it was lost.
In workshop: We will define abortion as the deliberate termination of pregnancy.
‘The term abortion is more commonly used as a synonym for induced abortion, the deliberate
interruption of pregnancy, as opposed to miscarriage, which connotes a spontaneous or natural
loss of the foetus’
Ways of Abortion.
Medical abortion: given 2 medications (Mifepristone/Misoprostol) usually in early
pregnancy up to 10 weeks- but available up to 24 weeks (best for earlier pregnancy’s)
Surgical abortion: Vacuum Aspiration Abortion used between 3-12 weeks – A tube
inserted into the womb and contents vacuumed out, thereby removing the foetus.
Evacuation and Curettage- The cervical canal is enlarged, and the womb emptied by
suction or curettage (Scooping/scraping)
Intact Dilation and Extraction after 13 weeks- The foetus is partially extracted into the
birth canal and the contents of the skull vacuumed out. The body of the foetus is then
removed.
Covid 19 Update:
- Can take 2 pills at home for abortion (pregnancy that have not passed 10 weeks
of gestation) will be a consultation after pandemic/ or 2 years is this is a better
way of doing things.
- Abortion rates climbed during pandemic
Statistics published by department of health in 2019.
- There were 200,608 abortions carried out in the UK in 2018, the highest number
ever recorded
- Highest rate women aged 20-24
- 1,267 for girls aged under 16
Covid 19 Statistics:
- Between Jan-Jun 2020, 86% of abortions were performed at under 10 weeks
- This compared with 81% in January to June 2019, an increase of 5%
- Almost 50% of abortions were performed before 7 weeks gestation from January
to June 2020, compared to almost 40% for the same period.
- A further 36% were done from week 7 to 9 in the first 6 months of 2020,
compared to 42% in the first 6 months of 2019.
, Abortion – The Law
The abortion act did not de-criminalise abortion but instead provided
a defence to the OAPA 1861 for s.58 and s.59. They are still criminal
offences if the statutory defence is not complied with.
Offences Against the Person Act 1861
s.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 shall 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
This is an offence committed by the woman herself who tried to procure
her own miscarriage herself by any means. This is still an offence if she is
mistaken about being pregnant i.e., tries to make herself miscarry even though it
was impossible because she was not actually pregnant, she would still be guilty and
attract a custodial sentence.
Offences Against the Person Act 1861
s.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 misdemeanour, and
being convicted thereof shall be liable . . .to be kept in penal servitude
Applies to another person who tries to cause a miscarriage of someone who is
believed to be pregnant.
These are still criminal offences if that statutory defence is not complied with.
Another offence to which the abortion act can provide a defence is
the:
Infant Life Preservation Act 1929, s1
(except as allowed by section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967 as amended
by HFEA 1990)
[the amendment allowed for later terminations which would not be criminal
offence if the conditions in the abortion act are complied with)
Subject as hereinafter in this subsection provided, any person who, with
intent to destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive, by any wilful
act causes a child to die before it has an existence independent of its mother,
shall be guilty of felony, to wit, of child destruction and could attracts a life
sentence
and shall be liable on conviction thereof on indictment to penal servitude for
life:
Provided that no person shall be found guilty of an offence under this
section unless it is proved that the act which caused the death of
the child was not done in good faith for the purpose only of
, preserving the life of the mother.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, evidence that a woman had at any material
time been pregnant for a period of twenty-eight weeks or more shall be
primâ facie proof that she was at that time pregnant of a child
capable of being born alive.
HFEA: to allow for later terminations that then would not be criminal
offences if the conditions of the abortion act are complied with.
For the purposes of that act - foetus was viable at 28 weeks’ gestation, that is
when the procuring of miscarriage would not apply, and the infant life
preservation act will apply.
Common Law: R v Bourne (1939)
Facts: 15-year-old girl gang raped by officers in the host guards (soldiers) she
went to one hospital and told her it was fine, and the child’s parent would be
officer and thus should be happy and did not do anything to help her.
Then went to Mr. Bourne agreed to terminate pregnancy which he did and
handed himself in to the police station. He was charged under s.58 of the
OAPA early in pregnancy.
At trial Judge Mcnaghten imported that part of the infant life preservation act
stating that it would be lawful to terminate in order to save mothers life.
He could have talked about common law defence of necessity, but he did not
he imported that in from the other act.
‘to save the mother’s life’ must include the mothers sanity. i.e., if she was
made to carry and have child, she would be mental wreck. And allowing them
to become a mental wreck is not preserving their life.
If continued pregnancy would make her a mental wreck which all the
disastrous consequences that would follow from that so preserving life of the
mother included preserving her mental health therefore Dr. Bourne not
guilty.
Defence for the doctor: allowed legal abortions in certain circumstances. But
still did not get comprehensive protection for doctors and women until
abortion act in 1967
■ Charged under s58 OAPA
■ Macnaghten J imported part of the Infant Life Preservation Act to
interpret ‘unlawful.’
■ Defence of necessity would also have applied
■ Acquitted
■ Continued pregnancy, “Would be likely to make her a mental wreck,
with all the disastrous consequences that would follow from that.”
■ “Preserving the life of the mother” includes preserving her mental
health.
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