by Edmund Christo. This paper is given the general purport of critically analyzing the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Legislation in certain Commonwealth Caribbean jurisdictions, or lack thereof, and is to conclude by proposing a way forward in dealing with jurisdictions that haven’t sought to make any changes to the prehistoric legislation governing this issue, or those that have made changes, and it can be said to be in need of reform.
A US court has sentenced an anti-abortion activist to life in prison for murdering the prominent abortion doctor, George Tiller, last year. Scott Roeder, 52, said he shot Dr Tiller at a church in Wichita, Kansas, to save the lives of unborn babies. George Tiller was one of the few doctors to offer late-term abortions. The case highlighted the bitter debate over abortion in the US. The judge said Roeder would not be eligible for parole for 50 years. Warren Wilbert, the judge at Sedgwick County court, said he gave Roeder the maximum sentence because he admitted stalking Dr Tiller for months.
The abortion rate has dropped for the second year running in England and Wales, statistics show. But experts said it was still too early to say whether there was a downward trend. The total number of abortions was 189,100 in 2009 - a rate of 17.5 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, according to the Department of Health figures. This compares to 18.2 in 2008 and comes after a general upward trend for the past 40 years which peaked in 2007. The abortion rate in Scotland also fell last year to 12.4 per 1,000.
A decision last week by Germany’s Federal Supreme Court to acquit a gynaecologist of illegal abortion after he chose to carry out genetic diagnosis on several human embryos and discarded those with genetic defects has stirred a debate about the possible need for a new law tightening the rules on preimplantation genetic diagnosis. The landmark ruling said that embryos created from in vitro fertilisation (IVF) can be screened for genetic defects before being implanted in the womb. The 47 year old doctor, who was not identified, brought the case to court himself in 2006 to clarify the legal situation. He had already been acquitted in May 2009 by a regional court in Berlin, but the prosecutor had appealed the decision.
Abortion on demand for some women will be legal for the first time in Spain from next July. The controversial law that allows women to have an abortion without restrictions during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy was approved in the Senate last Wednesday by a majority of six votes. Representatives of the Spanish Socialist Party and feminist groups welcomed the law, which was promoted by the socialist government. They described it as a "historic step" in the fight for women’s rights. Spain’s president, José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero, said that from now on "it won’t be possible to send women to prison for interrupting their pregnancy." He added that the previous law had been an advance at the time but that "lately it has caused some problems."
The Queensland state government is under pressure to reform “archaic” laws criminalising abortion after a young couple were acquitted on charges related to a medical abortion. In the Cairns District Court in north Queensland on 14 October a jury took less than an hour to find Tegan Leach, 20, and Sergei Brennan, 22, not guilty of charges that could have resulted in a jail sentence. Ms Leach was charged under section 225 of the Queensland Criminal Code of 1899, which applies to a woman who uses force, any “noxious” thing, or any other means to procure an abortion. Mr Brennan was charged under section 226 of the code with unlawfully supplying the means to procure an abortion. It was alleged that he had arranged for a relative in the Ukraine to post him tablets of mifepristone (also called RU486) and misoprostol, which had been used to bring about an early abortion in the couple’s home in December 2008.
The Monday Interview: A growing number of medical professionals are supporting the idea of assisted dying. Dr Ann McPherson – who herself has only months to live – tells Jeremy Laurance why
The United Kingdom’s largest independent abortion provider is mounting a High Court challenge to make it possible for women to complete early stage abortions at home. BPAS, formerly known as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, is asking the court to rule that the 1967 Abortion Act allows women to take the second dose of tablets for an early medical abortion at home. The act says that any treatment for the termination of pregnancy has to be carried out at a hospital or clinic. Early medical abortion, available in the first nine weeks of pregnancy, requires women to take two sets of treatment, mifepristone and misoprostol, 24 to 48 hours apart. Currently in the UK this means two visits to a hospital or clinic.
A woman who aborted her own baby in the final phase of her pregnancy has been jailed for eight years. Sarah Louise Catt, 35, of North Yorkshire, took a drug when she was full term, 39 weeks pregnant, to cause an early delivery.