Regardless of my own views on abortion, it may be worth considering just what the law in England, Wales and Scotland does say (the law is different in Northern Ireland). The Abortion Act of 1967 said that abortion was allowed at any stage of the pregnancy if two registered medical practitioners were of the opinion, formed in good faith,
- that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, or of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or any existing children of her family, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated; or
- that there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act of 1990 amended the first condition to say that in the case of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or her children an abortion would only be legal if the pregnancy had not exceeded its twenty-fourth week. However, this time limit does not apply if the pregnancy would cause grave permanent injury to the pregnant woman, or if it would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman.
The second condition, which includes Down's syndrome as being "seriously handicapped", was not amended. The judgment rendered in the recent case did not change the law but ruled that the Abortion Act was not unlawful, as reported by the BBC.