ABSTRACT
After the Abortion Act of 1967 many people felt that the issue was over. There was a confidence about the changes. Suicide had ceased to be a criminal offence, the death penalty had been abolished, homosexuality legalised, and birth control had become openly available to single people. It seemed that the legalisation of abortion was just part of an overall change in attitude towards ‘crimes without victims’ (Schur, 1965). However, in subsequent years there was a great deal of controversy and by the end of 1982 there had been ten Bills concerned with abortion - eight of which were intended to restrict the working of the Act.
