Abortion Act
What is meant by abortion? Abortion is defined
in the dictionary as, "The
expulsion of a foetus (naturally or by medical
induction) from the womb before
it is able to survive independently (around
28 weeks)." This simply means
the foetus is removed by either a natural or
medical procedure before the time
of the natural birth would have occurred,
before the foetus could support it’s
own life. Their are in fact three types
of abortion. They are: Voluntary - when
the mother decides to have an
abortion out of choice, Therapeutic - carried out
when the mother’s health is
in danger and Spontaneous - when the foetus dies
during the pregnancy (the
same as a miscarriage). The Abortion Act is what is
used to determine whether
an abortion is justified, it was passed in 1967 and
then amended in 1990.
Currently it states that: 1967 Abortion Act An abortion
may be performed
legally if two or more doctors certify that: 1. The mental and
physical
health of the woman, or her existing children, will suffer if the
pregnancy
continues. Or.... 2. The child, if born, would be seriously physically
or
mentally handicapped. 1990 amendment As the 1967 Act, except that the
time
limit for when an abortion can be carried out was reduced to 24 weeks.
This Act
means a pregnant woman has the right to an abortion if: 1. Upon
keeping the
pregnancy, and therefore having the child, the mother and/or any
children she
already has would be harming their physical or mental well
being. 2. The foetus
has been shown to have either a physical or mental
disability and therefore
would be born handicapped. If two doctors both agree
that the woman suffers from
either of the points, then abortion is a legal
option, as long as the pregnancy
has not gone more than 24 weeks after
conception. A 15 yr. old girl is pregnant
and has requested and abortion
without her parents knowing and with no intention
to do so. The girl would be
allowed an abortion even though she is too young
(under 16) to give consent
for the medical procedure to take place. The grounds
the girl would be
allowed the abortion under would be under the first section of
the 1967 Act,
the pregnancy if continued, would pose a risk to the mother’s
own mental
health. An amniocentesis test shows that the baby has a serious
deformity.
There is no doubt that an abortion would be legal in this
circumstance, it
falls exactly under the second section of the 1967 Act, because
the baby, if
born, would be either seriously physically or mentally handicapped.
The
pregnancy was a result of rape. An abortion would be permitted to the
mother,
because keeping the pregnancy would cause the mother’s mental health
to
suffer, this the first section of the 1967 Act. The Abortion Act allows
for
most abortions to go ahead, as it is open to various interpretations
(especially
in the first section). One scenario where an abortion would not
be permitted
would be: A scan has shown that the baby is female and the
parents want a boy.
These would not be significant grounds for an
abortion to be said to be legal.
However it could be argued that it would
cause the mother mental distress, but
it is does not really pose a serious
threat to her health. However there has
been a case of a mother who had two
abortions on the NHS because she didn’t
like the looks of either of the
fathers.