ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the woman's right to choose to have an abortion and her rights of self-determination, but let us consider the doctor's right not to perform an abortion. The Abortion Act 1967, however, provides extensive defences and it is by virtue of this statutory provision that many thousands of abortions are carried out every year. The Abortion Act 1967, which was amended by s 37 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (HFE) 1990, states that no offence under the Infant Life Act 1929 can be committed if an abortion is performed by a registered medical practitioner in accordance with the provisions of HFE Act 1990. The Abortion Law Reform Association was formed in 1936, shortly before the case of R v Bourne, in order to address such social injustice. Backbencher Liberal MP David Steel introduced the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill, which later became the Abortion Act and was enacted in April 1968.
