Offences Against the Person Act 1861

In England and Wales abortion remains a criminal offence under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act (OAPA). The OAPA does not extend to Scotland. It no longer applies to Northern Ireland.

Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929

This Act makes it illegal to kill a child capable of being born alive. 28 weeks’ gestation is presented in the Act as prima facie evidence that a baby is capable of being born alive, although babies today survive at much younger ages. An amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act in 1990 ensured that abortions performed under the 1967 Abortion Act were not offences under the 1929 Act.

The 1990 Act also introduced a 24-week time limit into the Abortion Act for some cases, in particular where there is said to be a risk to the mental or physical health of the mother if she continues with the pregnancy. These are the vast majority of abortions performed under the 1967 Act. In other cases, such as disability of the fetus or where the life of the mother is at risk, abortion was made permissible up to and even during birth in 1990.

Abortion Act 1967

In England, Scotland and Wales abortion is primarily governed by the 1967 Abortion Act. In 2016 abortion was devolved to Scotland, but the 1967 act remains in place.

Northern Ireland

The 1967 Abortion Act was never extended to Northern Ireland. However, in 2020 Northern Ireland changed from being one of the safest places in the world for unborn babies to being one of the most dangerous. In July 2019 the Westminster Parliament voted, 328 to 65, to repeal section 58 and section 59 of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act which were the only safeguards protecting unborn children from the threat of abortion in Northern Ireland.

The law now allows abortion in the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy for any reason.