UNITED
KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND. TYNWALD. Termination of Pregnancy (Medical Defences) Act 1995 (Chapter 14 of 1995),
1. Subject
to section 5, a person shall not be guilty of an offence under section 71 or 72
of the Criminal Code 1872 (offences relating to procuring a miscarriage) (in
this Act referred to as "the Criminal Code") when a pregnancy is
terminated by a hospital surgeon if that surgeon and an independent medical
practitioner are of the opinion, formed in good faith, that the termination of
the pregnancy is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant woman.
2. (1) Without prejudice to the generality of
section 1 of this Act or to the proviso to section 3 of the Infanticide and
Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1938 (in this Act referred to as "the 1938
Act"), if the hospital surgeon who terminates the pregnancy and the other
medical practitioner are of the opinion, formed in good faith, that --
(a) the continuance of the pregnancy would involve a substantial
risk (other than such risk as is normally associated with pregnancy and
childbirth) to the life of the pregnant woman greater than if the pregnancy is
terminated; or
(b) the termination is necessary to prevent grave permanent
injury to --
(i) the physical health of the woman; or
(ii) the mental health of the woman,
the termination shall, for the purposes of those
sections, be necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant woman.
(2) In a case to
which subsection (1)(b)(ii) applies, the other medical
practitioner must be a consultant psychiatrist.
3. (1) When, in accordance with sections 1 and 2 of
this Act or in accordance with the proviso to section 3 of 1938 Act, a hospital
surgeon terminates a pregnancy which has exceeded 24 weeks, it shall be the
duty of the surgeon --
(a) to perform the termination in such manner as is best
calculated to preserve the life of the child; and
(b) to take such other action as is reasonable in all the
circumstances to preserve the life of the child.
(2) The duty
imposed by subsection (1) shall be exercised in a manner which is consistent
with, and shall not override, the duty of the surgeon to preserve the life of
the woman.
(3) The
obligation to comply with the duty imposed by this section is a duty owed to
the pregnant woman and the child (if born alive), and any breach of that duty
is actionable accordingly, subject to the defences
and other incidents applying to actions for breach of statutory duty.
4. (1) Subject to section 6, a person shall not be
guilty of an offence under --
(a) section 71 or 72 of the Criminal Code; or
(b) section 3 of the 1938 Act,
when a pregnancy is terminated by a hospital surgeon
if that surgeon and an independent medical practitioner are of the opinion,
formed in good faith, that there is a substantial risk that if the child were
to be born at full term it would suffer from such physical or mental
abnormalities as to be --
(i) unlikely to survive birth;
(ii) unlikely to be capable of maintaining vital functions after
birth; or
(iii) seriously handicapped.
(2) For the
purposes of subsection (1)(iii), a serious handicap exists if, and only if, the
hospital surgeon and the medical practitioner are of the opinion, formed in
good faith, that the handicap is not capable of being cured or substantially
relieved by treatment or the passage of time.
(3) Subsection
(1)(iii) shall not apply unless the hospital surgeon
and the medical practitioner are of the opinion, formed in good faith, that the
pregnancy has not exceeded 24 weeks.
5. (1) Subject to section 6 a person shall not be
guilty of an offence under section 71 or 72 of the Criminal Code when a
pregnancy is terminated by a hospital surgeon if --
(a) that surgeon
and an independent medical practitioner are of the opinion, formed in good
faith, that the pregnancy has lasted for less than 12 weeks; and
(b) the requirements of subsection (2) have been complied with.
(2) The
requirements referred to in subsection (1)(b) are that
--
(a) the pregnant
woman has produced to the hospital surgeon and the medical practitioner an
affidavit or other evidence taken under oath alleging that the pregnancy could
be caused by rape, incest or indecent assault;
(b) the pregnant woman has made a complaint to the police about
the alleged rape, incest or indecent assault as soon as was reasonable in all
the circumstances; and
(c) the hospital surgeon and the medical practitioner are of the
opinion, formed in good faith, that there are no medical indications which are
inconsistent with the allegation that the pregnancy could be caused by rape,
incest or indecent assault.
(3) No evidence
in respect of, or any matter connected with, the termination of a pregnancy in
accordance with this section shall be admissible in any criminal proceedings
relating to the alleged rape, incest or indecent assault except with the leave
of the court.
6. (1) Sections 1 to 5 shall apply only where --
(a) the pregnant woman is ordinarily resident in the
(b) the pregnancy is terminated in a national health hospital.
(2) In sections
1, 4 and 5, "independent medical practitioner" means a medical
practitioner who --
(a) is not
employed on the staff of, or otherwise contracted to provide medical services
in, a national health hospital in a post or office which is junior to the
hospital surgeon who terminates the pregnancy; or
(b) is not a partner or employee of the hospital surgeon who
terminates the pregnancy; or
(c) is not a member or employee of a group practice of which the
hospital surgeon who terminates the pregnancy is a member or employee; or
(d) during the 6 months preceding the termination, has not acted
as locum tenens
for the hospital surgeon who terminates the pregnancy; or
(e) during the 6 months preceding the termination, has not been
engaged to assist the hospital surgeon in the course of a private medical
practice.
(3) Subsection
(1), and so much of sections 1 and 2 as relate to the opinion of two medical
practitioners, shall not apply to the termination of a pregnancy by a medical
practitioner in a case where the practitioner is of the opinion, formed in good
faith, that the termination is immediately necessary to save the life or to
prevent grave permanent injury to the physical health of the pregnant woman.
(4) In the case
of a woman carrying more than one foetus, the defences provided under sections 1 to 5 apply if --
(a) the ground
for termination of the pregnancy specified in section 4 applies in relation to
any foetus and the action is taken for the purpose of
procuring the miscarriage of that foetus, or
(b) any of the other grounds for termination of the pregnancy
specified in those sections applies.
(5) Where a
pregnancy is terminated in accordance with this Act --
(a) if the child is born alive, the hospital surgeon shall be
under a duty to take all reasonable steps to preserve the life of the child; or
(b) if there is no live birth, the foetus
shall be disposed of --
(i) in accordance with the wishes of the
pregnant woman; or
(ii) in the absence of any direction by the pregnant woman, in
accordance with the normal practice of the hospital,
but the foetus or any part of
the foetus shall not be used or made available for
any medical or other experiment or procedure or for any purpose whatsoever
without the express written consent of the mother.
7. (1) The Department shall, after consulting such
persons and bodies as it thinks appropriate, make regulations as to the
provision by the Department of --
(a) balanced and impartial counselling
services for any pregnant woman who has to consider the termination of her
pregnancy;
(b) facilities, staff or funds for such service; and
(c) training and information for persons engaged for the
purposes of such service.
(2) The
Department may make regulations to provide --
(a) for
requiring any such notice, opinion or affidavit as is referred to in this Act
to contain such information and to be in such form as may be prescribed by the
regulations;
(b) for
requiring any such evidence on oath as is referred to in this Act to include
such information as may be prescribed by the regulations;
(c) for requiring the preservation and disposal of such
documents as are made for the purposes of this Act or the regulations;
(d) for
requiring any medical practitioner who terminates a pregnancy to give notice of
the termination and to furnish such documents and information relating to the termination
as may be so prescribed;
(e) for prohibiting the disclosure, except to such persons or
for such purposes as may be so prescribed, of any document or information
furnished pursuant to this Act or to regulations.
(3) The
documents and information furnished in pursuance of regulations made under
subsection (2)(d) shall be notified solely to the
Community Physician.
(4) Any person
who intentionally contravenes or intentionally fails to comply with the
requirements of regulations under subsection (2) shall be liable on summary
conviction to a fine not exceeding £5,000.
(5) Regulations
under this section shall be laid before Tynwald.
8. (1) In this Act --
"the 1938 Act" has
the meaning given by section 2(1);
"consultant" means
a medical practitioner who is employed as a consultant under section 10 of the
National Health Service (
"the Criminal Code"
has the meaning given by section 1;
"the Department"
means the Department of Health and Social Security;
"hospital surgeon"
means --
(i) a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology;
(ii) a consultant in surgery;
(iii) a surgeon employed on the staff of a national health
hospital; or
(iv) any other
medical practitioner who is recognised by the
Department as being suitably qualified and who has been nominated in writing by
the Department as a medical practitioner authorised
to undertake the termination of pregnancies at a national health hospital;
"medical
practitioner" means a registered medical practitioner;
"national health
hospital" means a hospital vested in the Department for the purposes of
the National Health Service (
(2) Nothing in
this Act shall be construed as imposing any duty on any person to participate
in any treatment authorised by this Act to which that
person has a conscientious objection and the Department shall not --
(a) terminate the employment of any persons so refusing; or
(b) refuse to employ persons on the sole ground that they
refuse, or might refuse to participate in any treatment authorised
under this Act.
(3) For the
avoidance of doubt, it is declared that it is not an offence under the law of
the
9. Any
expenses of the Department which are attributable to this Act shall paid out of monies provided by Tynwald.
10. (1) This Act may be cited as the Termination of
Pregnancy (Medical Defences) Act 1995.
(2) This Act
shall come into force on the expiration of the period of three months beginning
with the date on which it is passed.