Abortion in the United Kingdom

[9] Debates and practices relating to abortion, pregnancy and the beginning of human life are recorded in Roman medical literature which would have been become available in Britain from the 1st century AD onwards.

The medical writer Soranus of Ephesus, for example, wrote in the early 2nd century:[10] A contraceptive differs from an abortive, for the first does not let conception take place, while the latter destroys what has been conceived [...] But a controversy has arisen.

In the early Middle Ages, in Britain and other regions of Northern Europe, parents who did not want to raise their children often gave them to monasteries along with a small fee – an practice known as oblation.

Later, under Scottish common law, abortion was defined as a criminal offence unless performed for "reputable medical reasons", a definition which could be interpreted as sufficiently broad as to essentially preclude prosecution.

The 1803 Act introduced capital punishment for wilfully, maliciously, and unlawfully administering "any deadly poison, or other noxious and destructive substance or thing, with intent [...] to cause and procure the miscarriage of any woman, then being quick with child" (section 1) and penalties, at the discretion of the court, up to and including penal transportation for using means to "cause the miscarriage of any woman not being, or not being proved to be, quick with child" (section 2).

Post-war, after decades of stasis, certain high-profile tragedies, including disability in unborn children caused by the thalidomide drug, and social changes brought the issue of abortion back into the political arena.

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.

[46] In 2017, the Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Bill was introduced by Labour Diana Johnson MP with the aim of repealing criminal law on abortion in England and Wales.

[52] Political debate around abortion issues was renewed following the opening of a private abortion clinic in Belfast in 2012, the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 in the Republic, and the widespread discussion of a case of fatal foetal abnormality; several debates took place in the Northern Ireland Assembly and its members, in line with party policy and/or personal conscience, decided not to proceed with changes in the law.

[56][57] Later, as Health Minister, Jim Wells opposed abortion in cases of rape as the unborn child would be "punished for what has happened by having their life terminated" although he acknowledged that this would be "a tragic and difficult situation".

[58] Justice Minister David Ford (a member of the Alliance Party) issued a public consultation on amending the criminal law on abortion, which opened in October 2014 and closed in January 2015.

[61] The Abortion (Fatal Foetal Abnormality) Bill was introduced by David Ford, as a backbench MLA, in December 2016 but fell on the suspension of the Assembly in January 2017.

The political context was also changed by legal challenges, the repeal of the Eighth Amendment in the Republic in 2018 (supported by Sinn Féin), and the SDLP's decision to consider abortion as a matter of conscience.

[75] A different amendment proposed decriminalising abortion up to 24-weeks by making it an automatic right for women and allowing it to be carried out and authorised by an approved clinician if a woman requests it.

[86][87][88] In Northern Ireland Health and Social Services Board v A and Others [1994] NIJB 1, Lord Justice MacDermott said that he was "satisfied that the statutory phrase, 'for the purpose only of preserving the life of the mother' does not relate only to some life-threatening situation.

[90] In the same case, Lord Justice Sheil stated that "termination of a pregnancy based solely on abnormality of the foetus is unlawful and cannot lawfully be carried out in this jurisdiction".

[92] In June 2017, the declaration of incompatibility was quashed by the Court of Appeal on the grounds that "a broad margin of appreciation must be accorded to the state" and "a fair balance has been struck by the law as it presently stands until the legislature decides otherwise".

Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Scottish National Party representatives, for example, considered and individually decided to vote for or against several proposed changes in the term limit in 2008.

[123] During his pastoral visit to Great Britain in 1982, John Paul II remarked: "I support with all my heart those who recognize and defend the law of God which governs human life.

"[129] The General Assembly of the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland regards the foetus as "from the beginning, an independent human being" and therefore it can be threatened "only in the case of threat to maternal life, and that after the exhaustion of all alternatives".

[134][135] Congregations and members of major non-Christian religions in the UK likewise provide pastoral support for women, families and children whose circumstances are affected by crisis pregnancies and abortion, in a range of ways.

Campaigning organisations in support of a liberal policy include Amnesty International, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the Family Planning Association (FPA), Marie Stopes, MSI Reproductive Choices, and Humanists UK.

[139] The law of Guernsey allows abortion under the same grounds as in Great Britain: at any time to save the woman's life, prevent grave permanent injury to her health, or in case of significant foetal impairment; and in the first 24 weeks of gestation in case of "risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or any existing children of her family".

[145] To clarify the legal situation, in 2022 the States of Alderney passed an abortion law identical to the one in Guernsey, but it awaits a regulation to establish the effective date.

[165] Home Office statistics for England and Wales recorded 224 offences in total for procuring an illegal abortion in 1900–1909, which increased to 527 in the subsequent decade, 651 in the 1920s, and 1,028 in the 1930s (although figures for 1939 are unavailable).

"[170] Abortion and child destruction offences have historically only occasionally been recorded in Northern Ireland – a possible effect of the deterrent provided in law and the policing of a smaller jurisdiction.

[172] General population comparisons between jurisdictions would indicate that Scotland would record fewer offences than England and Wales and more than Northern Ireland although figures are not routinely published.

[178] 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.

[188][189] A YouGov/Daily Telegraph survey in 2005 measured British public opinion regarding the gestational age at which abortion should be permitted, with the following levels of support: A further 2011 poll by MORI surveyed women's attitudes to abortion and found that: The BBC Panorama team investigated crisis pregnancy advice centres and found over a third gave misleading medical information or unethical advice, or both.

[197] In 2011, the BPAS lost a High Court bid to force the Health Secretary to allow women undertaking early medical abortions in England, Scotland and Wales to administer the second dose of drug treatment at home.