ABSTRACT

On the other side of the English Channel, the French government has had to introduce a law making it a criminal offence to obstruct abortions, while it is a matter of history that the reunification of West and East Germany very nearly foundered on the rocks of abortion law. The recognition of variable fetal rights has fluctuated in English law. Abortion at an earlier state of gestation carried a lesser penalty, albeit a sentence of up to 14 years' transportation. The Abortion Act 1967, which began its life with the far more appropriate title of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill, has been under attack since it came into force. Abortion remains an emotive issue and, whatever is done or not done, it will never be possible to accommodate the views of the extreme 'pro-life' protagonists and, at the same time, those of the radical feminist movement.