ABSTRACT
The view that ‘abortion or pregnancy termination is one of the most controversial moral, social and legal issues in contemporary Western society’, as a writer has expressed in an article written in the early 1990s, is still accurate as we enter the 21st century. Abortion transcends moral, political, religious, legal, medical and psychological boundaries. It is, moreover, not a problem confined to Western societies and, to the parties involved, may seem, at the time, the most controversial and problematic situation that a woman may face. It has been practised, however, to a lesser or greater extent, in all societies since prehistoric times (see Lane Committee, Report on the Working of the Abortion Act, Cmd 5579, 1974, HMSO, Appendix to Section A). Abortion has been called ‘the most intractable and most prominent of family issues’ by Gilbert Steiner (see Steiner (1981), p 51). It has certainly been the subject of vigorous debate and controversy in countries like the USA and, far less so, in Britain. Indeed, it remains a subject of heated debate and not inconsiderable moral outrage in the USA where the latest incidents at abortion clinics and centres demonstrate the continuing depth of feeling and passion that this subject arouses in people, such as the so called pro-life groups. As Linda Clarke has put it (Clarke (1990), p 155):
The clear evidence that the law has been used, and continues to be used, is that the number of terminations carried out in England and Wales reached a peak in 1990 when almost 187,000 abortions were performed. The comparable figure for Scotland was 11,978, amounting to 10.9 for every 1,000 women. We shall conduct a global overview of the abortion laws in various countries in Part II of this book (see Chapter 13). However, this chapter looks briefly at the history of abortion law, especially in England, examines its many ramifications and looks at the leading cases that continue to make it a much-
vexed question. We also survey the Irish position, looking at both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, and their stance on abortion. At the outset, we begin by listing some of the fundamental philosophical and ethical issues posed by abortion.
