Editing Abortion in the United Kingdom (section)

=== Interpretation ===
Section 58 of the [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] reads as follows and prohibits administering drugs or using instruments to cause a miscarriage:

{{blockquote|Every woman, being with child, who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage, shall unlawfully administer to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or shall unlawfully use any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent, and whosoever, with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman whether she be or be not with child, shall unlawfully administer to her or cause to be taken by her any poison or other noxious thing, or unlawfully use any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent, shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable{{nbsp}}[...] to be kept in penal servitude for life{{nbsp}}[...]<ref name=1861act />}}

Section 59 of that Act reads as follows and prohibits the procurement of drugs or other items to cause a miscarriage:

{{blockquote|Whosoever shall unlawfully supply or procure any poison or other noxious thing, or any instrument or thing whatsoever, knowing that the same is intended to be unlawfully used or employed with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman, whether she be or be not with child, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and being convicted thereof shall be liable{{nbsp}}[...] to be kept in penal servitude{{nbsp}}[...]<ref name=1861act />}}

The following terms in the 1861 Act may be interpreted as follows:
* '''Unlawfully''' – for the purposes of sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, and any rule of law relating to the procurement of abortion, anything done with intent to procure a woman's miscarriage (or in the case of a woman carrying more than one foetus, her miscarriage of any foetus) is unlawfully done unless authorised by section 1 of the [[Abortion Act 1967]] and, in the case of a woman carrying more than one foetus, anything done with intent to procure her miscarriage of any foetus is authorised by the said section 1 if the ground for termination of the pregnancy specified in subsection (1)(d) of the said section 1 applies in relation to any foetus and the thing is done for the purpose of procuring the miscarriage of that foetus, or any of the other ground for termination of the pregnancy specified in the said section 1 applies;<ref>The [[Abortion Act 1967]], section 5(2); as read with section 6</ref>
* '''Felony''' and '''misdemeanour''' – see the [[Criminal Law Act 1967]];
* '''Mode of trial''' – the offences under section 58 and 59 are [[indictable-only offence]]s;
* '''Sentence''' – an offence under section 58 is punishable with imprisonment for life or for any shorter term<ref>The [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] (24 & 25 Vict c 100), section 58; the [[Criminal Justice Act 1948]] (11 & 12 Geo 6 c 58), section 1(1)</ref> and an offence under section 59 is punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.<ref>The [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] (24 & 25 Vict c 100), section 59; the [[Penal Servitude Act 1891]] (54 & 55 Vict c 69), section 1(1); the [[Criminal Justice Act 1948]] (11 & 12 Geo 6 c 58), section 1(1)</ref>

A death of a person [[Born alive rule|in being]] which is caused by an unlawful attempt to procure an abortion, is at least [[Manslaughter in English law|manslaughter]].<ref>''R v Buck and Buck'', 44 Cr App R 213, Assizes, per Edmund Davies J.; ''R v Creamer'' [1966] 1 QB 72, 49 Cr App R 368, [1965] 3 WLR 583, [1965] 3 All ER 257, [[Court of Criminal Appeal (England and Wales)|CCA]]</ref><ref>See also ''Attorney General's Reference (No 3 of 1994)'' [1998] AC 245, [1997] 3 WLR 421, HL, [1996] 1 Cr App R 351, CA.</ref>

The following terms in the 1967 Act may be interpreted as follows:
* '''The law relating to abortion''' – in England and Wales, this means sections 58 and 59 of the [[Offences against the Person Act 1861]] and any rule of law relating to the procurement of abortion.<ref name="abortion">The [[Abortion Act 1967]], section 6</ref> and in Scotland, this means any rule of law relating to the procurement of abortion;<ref name="abortion"/>
* '''Terminated by a registered medical practitioner''' includes a procedure supervised by a medical practitioner – see [[purposive approach#Royal College of Nursing v DHSS|Royal College of Nursing of the UK v DHSS]] [1981] AC 800, [1981] 2 [[Weekly Law Reports|WLR]] 279, [1981] 1 [[All England Law Reports|All ER]] 545, [1981] [[Criminal Law Review|Crim LR]] 322, [[House of Lords|HL]];
* '''Place where termination must be carried out''' – see sections 1(3) to (4);
* '''The opinion of two registered medical practitioners''' – see section 1(4);
* '''Good faith''' – see R v Smith (John Anthony James), 58 [[Criminal Appeal Reports|Cr App R]] 106, [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|CA]];
* '''Determining the risk of injury in ss. (a) & (b)''' – see section 1(2);
* '''Risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman''' – In ''R v British Broadcasting Corporation, ex parte ProLife Alliance'', Lord Justice Laws said: "There is some evidence that many doctors maintain that the continuance of a pregnancy is always more dangerous to the physical welfare of a woman than having an abortion, a state of affairs which is said to allow a situation of ''de facto'' abortion on demand to prevail."<ref>[http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2002/297.html R v British Broadcasting Corporation, ex parte ProLife Alliance] [2002] EWCA Civ 297 at [6], [2002] 2 All ER 756 at 761, CA</ref>