Abortion in the United Kingdom is de facto available under the terms of the Abortion Act 1967 in Great Britain and the Abortion (No.2) Regulations 2020 in Northern Ireland. The procurement of an abortion remains a criminal offence in Great Britain under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, although the Abortion Act provides a legal defence for both the pregnant woman and her doctor in certain cases. Although a number of abortions did take place before the 1967 Act, there have been around 10 million abortions in the United Kingdom. Around 200,000 abortions are carried out in England and Wales each year and just under 14,000 in Scotland; the most common reason cited under the ICD-10 classification system for around 98% of all abortions is "risk to woman's mental health."
Abortion in Ireland is regulated by the Health Act 2018. Abortion is permitted in Ireland during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy, and later in cases where the pregnant woman's life or health is at risk, or in the cases of a fatal foetal abnormality. Abortion services commenced on 1 January 2019, following its legalisation by the aforementioned Act, which became law on 20 December 2018. Previously, the 8th Constitutional Amendment had given the life of the unborn foetus the same value as that of its mother, but the 36th constitutional amendment, approved by referendum in May 2018, replaced this with a clause permitting the Oireachtas (parliament) to legislate for the termination of pregnancies.
Abortion in New Zealand is available within the framework of the Abortion Legislation Act 2020, which entirely eliminated the criminal status of abortion and allows termination on request during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. After 20 weeks abortion is permitted only if a health practitioner deems it "clinically appropriate" and consults at least one other health practitioner. However, the law does not specify what the conditions are which constitute "clinically appropriate", and there are no criminal penalties. Abortion is illegal only if a person who is not a licensed health practitioner procures or performs it.
Abortion laws vary widely among countries and territories, and have changed over time. Such laws range from abortion being freely available on request, to regulation or restrictions of various kinds, to outright prohibition in all circumstances. Many countries and territories that allow abortion have gestational limits for the procedure depending on the reason; with the majority being up to 12 weeks for abortion on request, up to 24 weeks for rape, incest, or socioeconomic reasons, and more for fetal impairment or risk to the woman's health or life. As of 2022, countries that legally allow abortion on request or for socioeconomic reasons comprise about 60% of the world's population. In 2024, France became the first country to explicitly protect abortion rights in its constitution.
Abortion in Australia is legal. There are no federal abortion laws, and full decriminalisation of the procedure has been enacted in all jurisdictions. Access to abortion varies between the states and territories: Surgical abortions are readily available on request within the first 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy in most jurisdictions, and up to 16 weeks in Tasmania. Later-term abortions can be obtained with the approval of two doctors, although the Australian Capital Territory only requires a single physician's approval.
Suicide is a crime in some parts of the world. However, while suicide has been decriminalized in many countries, the act is almost universally stigmatized and discouraged. In some contexts, suicide could be utilized as an extreme expression of liberty, as is exemplified by its usage as an expression of devout dissent towards perceived tyranny or injustice which occurred occasionally in cultures such as ancient Rome, medieval Japan, or today's Tibet Autonomous Region.
The Abortion Act 1967 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that legalised abortion in Great Britain on certain grounds by registered practitioners, and regulated the tax-paid provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service (NHS).
Bradley Ronald "Brad" Hazzard is a retired Australian politician who served as the member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly district of Wakehurst between May 1991 and March 2023.
The timeline of women's legal rights (other than voting) represents formal changes and reforms regarding women's rights. The changes include actual law reforms, as well as other formal changes (e.g. reforms through new interpretations of laws by precedents). The right to vote is exempted from the timeline: for that right, see Timeline of women's suffrage. The timeline excludes ideological changes and events within feminism and antifeminism; for that, see Timeline of feminism.
Prostitution in Australia is governed by state and territory laws, which vary considerably, although none ban prostitution outright.
Abortion has been legal in India under various circumstances with the introduction of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Regulations, 2003 were issued under the Act to enable women to access safe and legal abortion services.
Abortion in Malta is illegal except in cases where the life of the pregnant woman is at risk. Until 2023, it was illegal without exception. Malta has the most restrictive laws regarding abortion in Europe with the law in Malta held to be influenced by Roman Catholic Christianity, which formed part of the identity of 82% of the population according to the 2021 census.
Laws regarding euthanasia or assisted suicide in Australia are matters for state and territory governments. As of November 2023 all states have implemented legislation creating an assisted suicide scheme for eligible individuals. These laws typically refer to assisted suicide as "voluntary assisted dying".
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Australian state of New South Wales have most of the same rights and responsibilities as non-LGBT people.
The Abortion Law Reform Act 2008 is an abortion law reform passed by the Victorian Parliament in the Australian state of Victoria in 2008. The reform bill sought to amend section 65 of the Victorian Crimes Act 1958, which had codified the common law offences relating to abortion. The reform also repealed section 10 of the Crimes Act dealing with a separate offence of child destruction.
The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1996 is the law governing abortion in South Africa. It allows abortion on demand up to the twelfth week of pregnancy, under broadly specified circumstances from the thirteenth to the twentieth week, and only for serious medical reasons after the twentieth week. The Act has been described by the Guttmacher Institute as "one of the most liberal abortion laws in the world".
Alexander Hart Greenwich is an Australian politician. He is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the seat of Sydney since the 2012 Sydney by-election. He ran as an independent and was backed by his predecessor, independent Clover Moore. He is also the Co-Chair of Australian Marriage Equality and was one of the key leaders of the successful Yes campaign for the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey in 2017 and abortion legalisation within New South Wales in 2019.
The Health Act 2018 is an Act of the Oireachtas which defines the circumstances and processes within which abortion may be legally performed in Ireland. It permits termination under medical supervision, generally up to 12 weeks' pregnancy, and later if pregnancy poses a serious health risk or there is a fatal foetal abnormality.
Abortion in Queensland, Australia, is available on request in the first 22 weeks of pregnancy, with the approval of two doctors usually required for later terminations of pregnancy. Queensland law prohibits protesters from coming within 150 metres of an abortion clinic and requires conscientiously objecting doctors to refer women seeking an abortion to a doctor who will provide one. The current legal framework was introduced by the Palaszczuk Labor Government with the passage of the Termination of Pregnancy Act by the Parliament of Queensland on 17 October 2018 in a conscience vote. Before the Termination of Pregnancy Act took effect on 3 December 2018, abortion was subject to the Criminal Code and the common law McGuire ruling, which made abortion unlawful unless the abortion provider had a reasonable belief that a woman's physical or mental health was at risk. Availability varies across the state, and is more limited in rural and remote areas outside South East Queensland. In the absence of standardised data collection, it is estimated that between 10,000 and 14,000 abortions occur every year in Queensland.
The Abortion Legislation Act 2020 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand allowing unrestricted access to abortion within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, and repealing sections of the Crimes Act 1961 related to unlawful abortion. After the 20-week period, women seeking an abortion must consult a qualified health practitioner who will assess their physical health, mental health, and well-being. The Act also provides provisions for conscientious objection rights for medical practitioners and exempts abortion services from certain Crimes Act provisions, while extending the definition of health services to include abortion services under the Health and Disability Commissioner Act 1994.
