Abortion in the United Kingdom is legally available through the
Abortion Act 1967 in Great Britain, and the
Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No.2) Regulations 2020.
In England, Scotland, and Wales, abortion is permitted on the grounds of:
- risk to the life of the pregnant woman;
- preventing grave permanent injury to her physical or mental health;
- risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or any existing children of her family (up to a term limit of 24 weeks of gestation); or
- substantial risk that, if the child were born, he or she would "suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped".
The third ground is typically interpreted liberally with regards to mental health to create a
de facto state of abortion on demand, and nearly all abortions—98% in 2019 and 2020—are performed to protect the woman's mental health.
In Northern Ireland, abortion is permitted on similar grounds, although the law also permits abortion in the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy for any reason, as is also the case in the rest of
Ireland.
Under the UK's devolution settlements, abortion policy is devolved to the
Scottish Parliament and the
Northern Ireland Assembly but not to the
Welsh Parliament (Senedd). Abortion was previously highly restricted in Northern Ireland although it was
permitted in limited cases. In 2019, during a time when the Assembly was not operating, the UK Parliament
repealed most restrictions on abortion in Northern Ireland; the current Regulations were subsequently introduced by Parliament in 2020.
Abortions which are carried out for grounds outside those permitted in law continue to be unlawful in each jurisdiction of the UK – under the
Offences against the Person Act 1861 in England and Wales,
Scottish common law, and the
Northern Ireland Regulations. The
Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 and the
Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1945 also outlaw
child destruction outside the grounds permitted in abortion law.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_the_United_Kingdom
