Editing Abortion in the United Kingdom (section)

==Crown dependencies==
Although Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man are not part of the United Kingdom, as they are part of the [[Common Travel Area]], people resident on these islands who choose to have an abortion have travelled to the UK since the [[Abortion Act 1967]].<ref>{{cite hansard |jurisdiction=United Kingdom |house=[[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] | title = Written Answers: HEALTH – Abortion |date= 26 July 1990|column_start=428 |column_end= 429 |speaker=[[Stephen Dorrell]] | position = [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State|Under-Secretary]] for [[Department of Health (United Kingdom)|Health]]}}</ref>

===Jersey===
It is lawful in [[Jersey]] to have an abortion in the first [[Prenatal Development|12 weeks]] of pregnancy if the woman is in "distress" and requests it;<ref>{{cite news| last = Peters | first = Claire | title = Abortion law in Jersey | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/jersey/content/articles/2008/05/21/abortion_law_jersey_feature.shtml | work = [[BBC News]] | date = 21 May 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last = Lakeman | first = Christopher |title=The concept of "distress" in the Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law, 1997 | journal = Jersey and Guernsey Law Review | volume = 1 | issue = 2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003102245/http://www.jerseylaw.je/publications/jerseylawreview/June97/concept_of_distress.aspx |archive-date=3 October 2011 |url=https://www.jerseylaw.je/publications/jglr/Pages/JLR9706_concept_of_distress.aspx | date = June 1997 |access-date=7 June 2011 }}</ref> in the first 24 weeks in case of foetal abnormalities; and at any time to save the woman's life or prevent serious permanent injury to her health. The criteria were established in the Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law 1997.<ref>[https://www.jerseylaw.je/laws/current/l_4_1997 Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law 1997] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630184425/https://www.jerseylaw.je/laws/revised/Pages/20.925.aspx |date=30 June 2022 }}, [[Jersey Legal Information Board]], 2019.</ref>

===Guernsey===
The law of [[Guernsey]] allows abortion under the same grounds as in Great Britain: at any time to save the woman's life, prevent grave permanent injury to her health, or in case of significant foetal impairment; and in the first 24 weeks of gestation in case of "risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or any existing children of her family".<ref name=gg>[https://www.guernseylegalresources.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?documentid=62459 Abortion (Guernsey) Law, 1997 (consolidated text)], Guernsey Legal Resources.</ref> As in Great Britain, the latter ground is considered to allow ''de facto'' elective abortion.

The conditions are specified in the Abortion (Guernsey) Law, 1997. As originally enacted, the law set a gestational limit of 24 weeks in case of foetal impairment and 12 weeks for risk to health greater than terminating the pregnancy, required the approval of two medical practitioners, and required that the abortion take place at [[Princess Elizabeth Hospital]].<ref>[https://www.guernseylegalresources.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?documentid=62458 Abortion (Guernsey) Law, 1997], Guernsey Legal Resources.</ref> The law was amended, effective from 2022, to remove the gestational limit for foetal impairment and increase the other limit to 24 weeks, to reduce the required approval to only one medical practitioner, to remove the location requirement, to allow nurses and midwives to perform abortions, and to decriminalise the act of a woman attempting to or succeeding in ending her own pregnancy outside of a medical setting.<ref>[https://www.guernseylegalresources.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?documentid=82985 Abortion (Guernsey) (Amendment) Law, 2021], Guernsey Legal Resources.</ref>

The Guernsey law of 1997 and its amendment of 2022 do not apply to [[Alderney]] and [[Sark]],<ref name=gg/> which are also part of the [[Bailiwick of Guernsey]] but continue to apply an earlier law, in French, identical to the Offences against the Person Act 1861 of England and Wales, which does not explicitly mention any legal ground for abortion.<ref>[https://www.guernseylegalresources.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?documentid=60341 Law on abortion, 1910] {{in lang|fr}}, Guernsey Legal Resources.</ref> However, the judicial decision ''[[Rex v Bourne]]'' in England and Wales clarified that the law always implicitly allowed abortion at least to save the woman's life, and the decision extended it also to preserve her health.<ref>[https://www.law.utoronto.ca/utfl_file/count/documents/reprohealth/united_kingdom_1938_bourne.pdf ''Rex v. Bourne''], Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, 18–19 July 1938.</ref> It is unclear whether Alderney and Sark apply only the original legal principle or also the extension by the judicial decision.

In practice, abortions are provided in Alderney under the same conditions as in Guernsey, as health services in Alderney operate under Guernsey law.<ref>[https://alderney.gov.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=155537 Billet d'État] (state note), States of Alderney, 20 July 2022.</ref> To clarify the legal situation, in 2022 the [[States of Alderney]] passed an abortion law identical to the one in Guernsey, but it awaits a regulation to establish the effective date.<ref>[https://www.guernseylegalresources.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?documentid=83864 Abortion (Alderney) Law, 2022], Guernsey Legal Resources.</ref>

===Isle of Man===
Since 24 May 2019,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.im/news/2019/may/24/islands-progressive-abortion-reforms-in-operation-from-today/|title=Isle of Man Government – Island's progressive abortion reforms in operation from today|website=www.gov.im|access-date=2019-08-26}}</ref> it is lawful in the [[Isle of Man]] to have an abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy at will, then until the 24th week, so long as criteria specified by the act are met, and then onwards if there is a serious risk of grave injury or death. Abortion is governed by the Abortion Reform Act 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://legislation.gov.im/cms/images/LEGISLATION/PRINCIPAL/2019/2019-0001/AbortionReformAct2019_1.pdf|title=Abortion Reform Act 2019|access-date=2019-11-20|archive-date=28 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628001833/https://legislation.gov.im/cms/images/LEGISLATION/PRINCIPAL/2019/2019-0001/AbortionReformAct2019_1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>