Latest news with #InfantLife(Preservation)Act1929
The Herald Scotland
29-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
From 19th century to present day: Abortion laws in Scotland
Put forward by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, the NC One amendment seeks to remove women from long-standing legislation the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 in relation to their own pregnancies, which criminalise abortion. This will become law if the provision remains unamended by the Lords during its forthcoming scrutiny of the bill. Some Scottish Labour MPs, including Katrina Murray who spoke to The Herald about her plea to the Scottish Government this weekend, have been calling for Scotland to follow suit. But should they and, fundamentally, can they? Before we answer that, let's take a look at the situation down South. Situation down South In England and Wales, the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 criminalises anyone who uses instruments or administers 'poisons' to a woman with intent to cause her to miscarry. Section 58 and 59 of this act renders a woman who acts to end her own pregnancy or anyone who facilitates a woman obtaining an abortion criminally culpable. Section 60, has the bespoke offence of concealing a pregnancy. Under this, if the prosecution are able to show that you were pregnant and either a dead child has shown up that can be linked to you or there is no child despite the fact you were pregnant that can be criminal. This legislation does not cover Scotland, as specifically stated in section 78 of the act itself. Read more: Lucy Grieve: Scotland Must Press On With Abortion Law Reform Abortion Laws in Scotland So what is the situation in Scotland? Legal academic at Strathclyde University, Dr Jonathan Brown told The Herald the laws around abortion in Scotland are 'radically different' to those in England and Wales. 'The Scottish laws relating to abortion has almost nothing in common with the law relating to abortion in the rest of the UK, including Northern Ireland,' he said. Instead, abortion is criminalised by Common Law, however, there remains widespread confusion and uncertainty over whether a woman could be prosecuted as they have been in England. Under this, while prosecution of women and pregnant people seems unlikely, legal academic Dr Lynsey Mitchel argues that 'it is not something that can be guaranteed.' Another piece of abortion legislation covering Scotland is the UK Abortion Act passed in 1967 which excludes Northern Ireland. In section 5 of this act, it states that 'anything done with intent to procure a woman's miscarriage' is unlawfully done (unless authorised by section one of the act). Under this law, all abortions still require two doctors' signatures, and women must meet specific legal criteria to qualify for an abortion which essentially means that not wanting to be pregnant is not a valid reason to have an abortion. There's also the much older Concealment of Birth Scotland Act of 1809. Dr Brown explained: "What it does is essentially give rise to an evidentiary presumption that a woman has killed her own child that was born alive if she concealed her pregnancy. 'The prosecution don't need to prove the baby was born because it is designed to cover cases where a woman can be shown to have been pregnant and no child has appeared at all. "So it's got that latent flexibility in it that means that the prosecution don't need to prove the child was born alive. It then puts the burden on the woman to prove that she either aborted or gave birth to a still born child." This was the main piece of legislation used in Scotland to prosecute women for abortions or a long time, the academic tells The Herald. 'In the 19th century, that's the statute being used to prosecute women until the amount of women prosecuted for this drops off in the 20th century,' he said. Dr Brown said the 1809 act is a 'problematic' and 'discriminatory' piece of legislation which he said needs to see reform. He explained: 'What it does is essentially give rise to an evidentiary presumption that a woman has killed her own child that was born alive if she concealed her pregnancy. 'The prosecution don't need to prove the baby was born because it is designed to cover cases where a woman can be shown to have been pregnant and no child has appeared at all so it's got that latent flexibility in it that means that the prosecution don't need to prove the child was born alive. "It then puts the burden on the woman to prove that she either aborted or gave birth to a still born child. 'For all that this is openly discriminatory and quite harsh, it is actually a piece of legislation that is brought in for reasons of mercy because before 1809, it was act the mothering of children that applied here which meant that if you were convicted under these circumstances you were guilty of the crime of murder, a capital crime at the time.' Under the 1809 act, the maximum sentence for concealing abortion is two years. Between 1922 and present day, The Herald understands five women have been prosecuted under this 1809 statute in Scotland. There has been one 21st century case involving a woman in respect of her own child. Any other abortion case has involved abortion providers. Out of all these cases, no woman was acquitted. 'If it's brought in, it tends to be a conviction or a plea,' said Dr Brown, who has scoured the archives on these cases. He added: 'In England and Wales…there has been an uptick in the number of prosecutions brought, there hasn't been anything like that in Scotland.', he said. How does this fit in with the legal limit of 24 weeks? Across the UK, the legal limit for an abortion is 24 weeks into the gestation period. Dr Brown stressed that when considering illegality beyond this time period in the 1967 act, it is looking specifically at medical professionals. 'When it is talking about criminality in the context of the act, it is talking about the criminality of doctors who don't comply with what is expected of them. It doesn't criminalise woman.' he stressed. 'One of our institutional writers, David Shum, stated the foetus in Scots law is nothing more than part of the mother's body and self-harm is not criminal and, if the foetus is a part of the self, the woman acting to harm it is not criminally culpable.' Although a woman who procures drugs illegally to end her pregnancy may not be guilty of the crime around abortion laws, she may be guilty of another crime such as possession of a controlled substances under the Misuse of Drugs Act. 'The only way I can see a women being prosecuted [in Scotland for abortion] is if a woman gets pregnant, doesn't tell anyone at all that she is in fact pregnant and then having secreted the fact of her pregnancy from absolutely everyone, does something at a sufficient at a sufficiently late stage of the pregnancy in a circumstance that leaves evidence of a child that could have been born alive. 'In that circumstance, the 1809 act could be applied.' What action is the Scottish Government taking? The Scottish Government has set up an expert group to review the law on abortion and advise on whether it should be changed. The Herald understands proposals from the group are expected to be published in late August or early September.
The Herald Scotland
29-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Tampering with abortion law could make things worse
However, a legal academic has told The Herald he is concerned changes to the law may risk making the situation worse for women the legislation could affect. Read more: From 19th century to present day: Abortion laws in Scotland Why Scotland must press on with abortion law reform Last week, MPs voted for an amendment to the Crime and Policing bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Put forward by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, the NC One amendment seeks to remove women from long-standing legislation the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 in relation to their own pregnancies, which criminalise abortion. This will become law if the provision remains unamended by the Lords during its forthcoming scrutiny of the bill. However, this does not include Scotland as abortion law is devolved. In England and Wales, the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 criminalises anyone who uses instruments or administers 'poisons' to a woman with intent to cause her to miscarry. In Scotland, abortion is governed under Common Law, however, there remains widespread confusion and uncertainty over whether a woman could be prosecuted as they have been in England. Under common law, while prosecution of women and pregnant people seems unlikely, legal academic Dr Lynsey Mitchel argues that 'it is not something that can be guaranteed.' As a result, the Scottish Labour MP, alongside other Scottish Labour MPs including Lillian Jones and Joani Reid, is pushing for change north of the border. Ms Murray told The Herald: 'There is a presumption that abortion is not a criminal offence in Scotland. It still is, it's just a different piece of legislation. It is still there within common law. 'It is something that can't be forgotten about. There is a time limit on this government of May next year and the legislative time that is there is running down.' The MP said she was pleased the amendment was voted through by MPs last week down South. 'Whilst it affects a really small number of women, it is really fundamental to their lives. Families have been completely destroyed as a result of having to go through a criminal justice system,' Ms Murray said. However, for Strathclyde University legal academic Jonathan Brown, the concern is that "tampering" with such legislation through pursuing a route of decriminalisation could negatively impact women here. Dr Brown told The Herald: 'There's a lot of well-meaning people talking about decriminalisation but they don't really know what the law in Scotland is and they are actually liable to make things worse if they go tampering with it.' He said the UK Abortion Act passed in 1967 provides a 'prime example' that the laws around abortion in Scotland should not be changed. The academic pointed out that before 1967, only one doctor was required to authorise the termination of a pregnancy but following the act that year, there is now a requirement of two doctors. 'What you've got if you start tampering with the law is a real possibility that you make things worse. It's happened before and it's likely to happen again,' he said. However, he did say legislation such as the Concealment of Birth Scotland Act 1809 should be abolished. Between 1922 and present day, The Herald understands five women have been prosecuted under this 1809 statute in Scotland. 'The 1809 Act is problematic." Dr Brown said, "It's created situations in which the woman is convicted on the same evidence that sees the provider acquitted. 'If you abolish it, what happens is it no longer makes a carve out in cases of murder which sees women being prosecuted and convicted on the basis of less evidence." Asked what he would say to anyone calling for decriminalisation in Scotland, Dr Brown urged them to consider other reforms. 'This a good opportunity to explore the possibility of repealing the 1809 act as we need to be clear that the law relating to abortion in Scotland is completely unlike the law in the rest of the UK," he said, "You can't assume that what works for another part of the UK will work for Scotland." Asked what she wants to see in Scotland, Ms Murray told The Herald: 'I want to get to a stage where we get consistency in the law in all four countries of the UK. "We've now potentially got decriminalisation in England and Wales. We need Scottish law to catch up. 'It needs to happen before the Scottish Parliament elections in 2026.' Given the time it takes for legislation to be passed, the Scottish Labour MP admitted the the ability to do this would be difficult. Ms Murray said: 'It's recess now and it's not back till the beginning of September so this is absolutely something we need to get a move on with.' The Labour MP said another major concern for her is that some women are forced to travel from Scotland to England to receive an abortion. One woman every four days has to make the journey to access abortion care because no health board north of the border provides care up to the legal limit of 24 weeks' gestation. "This is provision needs to be there," Ms Murray said, "There is now a life-threatening concern." For BPAS, decriminalisation of abortion should form a part of wider reform of abortion laws in Scotland. 'I feel like it would be in everyone's interest to have clarity that you can't prosecute women or doctors under Common Law,' said Rachael Clarke, head of advocacy for BPAS. Ms Clarke agrees with the legal academic Dr Brown that the 1809 act is an issue but she says the bigger issues in Scotland are around provision of and access to abortion services. In Scotland, you can only have a termination after 20 weeks in cases where there is either a foetal abnormality or the woman's life is at risk. 'In Scotland what we really need is abortion law reform because the care that can be provided to women is in line with the 1967 act, it's not in line with international best practice and it limits the kind of care that women can get and as a result we need change. 'Off the back of what's happening in England and Wales, this is an impetus for reform not for doing exactly the same thing in Scotland.' The Scottish Government has set up an expert group to review the law on abortion and advise on whether it should be changed. The Herald understands proposals from the group are expected to be published in late August or early September.
Barnama
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Barnama
British Lawmakers Vote To Decriminalise Abortion
LONDON, June 18 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- The Members of Parliament (MPs) voted on Tuesday to decriminalise abortion, which was considered a criminal offence in England and Wales, Xinhua reported. The amendment would "disapply existing criminal law related to abortion from women acting in relation to her own pregnancy at any gestation, removing the threat of investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment." According to the current law in England and Wales, abortion is allowed up to the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, and beyond that in some circumstances. However, the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 still criminalise abortions.
The Star
17-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
British lawmakers vote to decriminalize abortion
LONDON, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The Members of Parliament (MPs) voted on Tuesday to decriminalize abortion, which was considered a criminal offence in England and Wales. The amendment would "disapply existing criminal law related to abortion from women acting in relation to her own pregnancy at any gestation, removing the threat of investigation, arrest, prosecution, or imprisonment." According to the current law in England and Wales, abortion is allowed up to the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, and beyond that in some circumstances. However, the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 still criminalize abortions. The amendment would prevent women from being prosecuted but keep punishments for medical professionals and violent partners who end a pregnancy outside the existing law. According to polling by Sky News and YouGov, 55 percent of respondents are in favour of the law changing to stop women being criminalized for their abortion before 24 weeks, but 22 percent said they believe women should be investigated or imprisoned for abortion after 24 weeks. The amendment has been added to the government's Crime and Policing Bills, and would come into law after the royal assent.
Spectator
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
The danger of Stella Creasy's abortion amendment
'Do I think some women were born with penises? Yes,' declared Stella Creasy in 2022, in a moment of characteristic defiance against biological common sense. The Walthamstow MP has built a career on provocation, ideology, and showmanship, but her latest crusade is more than just performance. Creasy is seeking to remove all legal deterrents to abortion up to and including during birth, even if the baby is capable of surviving outside the womb. Creasy's latest campaign to 'decriminalise' abortion is not about minor tweaks or supposed modernisation. Her amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill would tear up what little remains of Britain's ethical red lines on abortion. She wants to repeal the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, which criminalises the intentional destruction of a child 'capable of being born alive' (thanks to medical advances, an increasing number of babies born as early as 22 weeks are now able to survive).
