British abortion law is framed not in terms of rights, rather in terms of exceptions. The 1967 Abortion Act legalized abortion provided by registered medical practitioners under specific circumstances. The law amended the preexisting abortion ban but did not repeal it. Should the necessary conditions not be met, then abortion remains a criminal offense under the 1861 Offences against the Person Act — one that’s technically punishable by up to life imprisonment.
If this comes as a surprise to people, it is because the exceptions have become so permissive that they accommodate most abortions anyway. The practice of box-ticking allows the British to retain a veil of civility around abortion. It isn’t about money. It isn’t about political activism or culture wars. Abortion, they maintain, is a necessary (if regrettable) procedure administered at the discretion of medical professionals.
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