ABSTRACT
Abortion at an earlier state of gestation carried a lesser penalty, albeit a sentence of up to 14 years’ transportation. One suspects that the United Kingdom Parliament of the time was mainly concerned at the number of abortions which were being carried out and that this may explain the similar penalty attached to the offence and the attempted offence by an outside party. Scots law on abortion is a matter of common law. The subject has never been of as great interest in Scotland as it has been in England, occupying less than three pages in Gordon. The history of abortion legislation in Germany is singled out for mention not as an example of European Community law but, rather, as an example of the way constitutional and common law can conflict on the issue. The American experience merits consideration as its evolution dominates the rhetoric of abortion. Prior to 1973, the states of America had various laws as regards abortion.
