34-677: The Abortion Act 1967 (c. 87) 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). The Act made it lawful to have an abortion up to the 28th week if two registered medical practitioners believed in good faith that
68-594: A Private Member's Bill after he did well in the ballot for such bills in 1966, coming third. There had been six earlier attempts to change the law on abortion, starting with an earlier Private Member's Bill from the Labour MP Joseph Reeves in 1952. Labour peer Lewis Silkin had introduced legislation in 1965, but withdrew this once Steel had successfully introduced his motion to the Commons, with Steel's bill being based on Silkin's text. There had been
102-511: A white paper , which is a clear statement of intent. It is increasingly common for a small number of Government bills to be published in draft before they are presented in Parliament. These bills are then considered either by the relevant select committee of the House of Commons or by an ad hoc joint committee of both Houses. This provides an opportunity for the committee to express a view on
136-492: A few, if any, are passed each year. Parliamentary authorities maintain a list of all private bills before parliament . Hybrid bills combine elements of both public and private bill. While they propose to make changes to the general law, they also contain provisions applying to specific individuals or bodies. Recent examples are the Crossrail Bill, a hybrid bill to build a railway across London from west to east , and
170-510: A general change in the law. The only difference from other public bills is that they are brought forward by a private member (a backbencher) rather than by the government. Twenty private members' bills per session are allowed to be introduced, with the sponsoring private members selected by a ballot of the whole house, and additional bills may be introduced under the Ten Minute Rule . Financial bills raise revenue and authorise how money
204-674: A long-running campaign supporting the legalisation of abortion in the UK, led by the Abortion Law Reform Association , who had lobbied Steel to use his Private Member's Bill slot on the topic. The proposal was backed by the Labour government, who appointed the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists , Sir John Peel , to chair a medical advisory committee that reported in favour of passing
238-572: A minimum consultation period of twelve weeks. Consultation documents are widely circulated (see for example the Home Office consultation on extreme pornography and the Scottish Government 's consultation on food policy ). The character of the consultation is shaped by the government's determination to press forward with a particular set of proposals. A government may publish a green paper outlining various legislative options or
272-541: A period of consultation will take place before a bill is drafted. Within government, the Treasury and other departments with an interest will be consulted along with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Outside government, interested parties such as trade unions , industry bodies and pressure groups will be asked for their views on any proposals. The Cabinet Office Code of Practice specifies
306-409: A process of consultation, the sponsoring department will send drafting instructions to parliamentary counsel, expert lawyers working for the government responsible for writing legislation. These instructions will describe what the bill should do but not the detail of how this is achieved. The Parliamentary counsel must draft the legislation clearly to minimise the possibility of legal challenge and to fit
340-651: A restricted basis. There was widespread action across the country to oppose any attempts to restrict abortion access via the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (now Act) in Parliament ( Report Stage and Third Reading 22 October 2008). MPs voted to retain the current legal limit of 24 weeks. Amendments proposing reductions to 22 weeks and 20 weeks were defeated by 304 to 233 votes and 332 to 190 votes respectively. A number of abortion rights amendments were proposed by Diane Abbott MP, Katy Clark MP and John McDonnell MP - including NC30 Amendment of
374-469: A specifically named locality or legal person in a manner different from all others. Private bills are "usually promoted by organisations, like local authorities or private companies, to give themselves powers beyond, or in conflict with, the general law. Private bills only change the law as it applies to specific individuals or organisations, rather than the general public. Groups or individuals potentially affected by these changes can petition Parliament against
SECTION 10
#1732781016936408-418: A sub-category of private acts, which confer specific rights or duties on a named individual or individuals, for example allowing two persons to marry even though they are within a "prohibited degree of consanguinity or affinity" such as stepfather and stepdaughter. Private bills, common in the 19th century, are now rare, as new planning legislation introduced in the 1960s removed the need for many of them. Only
442-535: A vote of 127 to 21 on 19 July, and approved it with minor changes on 23 October. On 25 October, the Commons voted 188—94 to agree with the amendments made by the Lords. The bill was enacted two days later, and came into force on 27 April 1968. Since 1967, members of Parliament have introduced a number of private member's bills to change the abortion law. Five resulted in substantive debate (1975, 1976, 1979, 1988, and 1990), but all failed. The Lane Committee investigated
476-436: Is designed to keep the business of government and public affairs up to date. These bills may not be substantial or controversial in party political terms. Two sub-classes of the housekeeping bill are consolidation bills , which set out existing law in a clearer and more up-to-date form without changing its substance; and the tax law rewrite bills , which do the same for tax law. An Act of Parliament will often confer power on
510-820: Is spent. The best-known such bills are the normally annual Finance Bills introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget . This usually encompasses all the changes to be made to tax law for the year. Its formal description is "a Bill to grant certain duties, to alter other duties, and to amend the law relating to the National Debt and the Public Revenue, and to make further provision in connection with finance". Consolidated Fund and Appropriation Bills authorise government spending. This type of bill
544-507: The 1976 Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Bill , which was a particularly controversial bill that was ruled to be a hybrid bill, forcing the government to withdraw some of its provisions to allow its passage as a public bill. Once passed, hybrid bills are printed as part of the public general acts. Parliamentary authorities maintain a list of all hybrid bills before parliament . It is important not to confuse private bills with private members' bills, which are public bills intended to effect
578-566: The King in Council , a minister , or another public body to create delegated legislation, usually by means of a statutory instrument . Bills may start their passage in either the House of Commons or House of Lords , although bills which are mainly or entirely financial will start in the Commons. Each bill passes through the following stages: Although not strictly part of the legislative process,
612-732: The Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn 's leadership made a commitment to extend the Abortion Act 1967 to Northern Ireland . In June 2017, the UK Government revealed plans to provide some type of free abortion services in England for women from Northern Ireland in an attempt to head off a Conservative rebellion in a vote on the Queen's speech. The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, enacted on 24 July 2019, extended
646-715: The United Kingdom is primary legislation passed by the UK Parliament in Westminster , London . An Act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries ( England , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland ). As a result of devolution the majority of acts that are passed by Parliament increasingly only apply either to England and Wales only, or England only. Generally acts only relating to constitutional and reserved matters now apply to
680-478: The Abortion Act 1967: Application to Northern Ireland. However, it was reported that the Labour Government at the time asked MPs not to table these amendments (and at least until Third Reading ) and then allegedly used parliamentary mechanisms in order to prevent a vote. Harriet Harman , in particular, was reported to have blocked the series of votes to liberalise Britain's abortion laws. In May 2017,
714-474: The Lords. They will check the following: After this process, the bill is then ready for introduction. Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (c 22) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . The Act constitutes a major review and update of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 . According to the Department of Health ,
SECTION 20
#1732781016936748-586: The bill and propose amendments before it is introduced. Draft bills allow more lengthy scrutiny of potential legislation and have been seen as a response to time pressures which may result in the use of programme orders to impose a strict timetable on the passage of bills and what is known as 'drafting on the hoof', where the government introduces amendments to its own bills. With increased time for scrutiny backed up with considered evidence, draft bills may present governments with difficulty in getting their way. The sponsoring government department will then write to
782-524: The bill in with existing UK, European Union and delegated legislation. A finished bill must be approved or scrutinised by the sponsoring department and minister, parliamentary counsel and LP. The final stage is the submission of the bill to the authorities of the House in which it is to start its legislative journey. In the Commons, this is the Clerk of Legislation and the Public Bill Office in
816-470: The bill. Several members of the government were sympathetic legalisation, including Roy Jenkins (Home Secretary), Kenneth Robinson (Minister of Health), Richard Crossman (Leader of the House), and John Silkin (Government Chief Whip). After a further heated political and moral debate, the House of Commons passed it by a vote of 167 to 83 on 13 July 1967. The House of Lords granted it a second reading by
850-487: The continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of the pregnant woman, or harm her physical or mental health, or that of any of her family members. It did not extend to Northern Ireland until the implementation of the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 . Under this legislation, a registered medical professional could terminate a pregnancy where the pregnancy had not exceeded 12 weeks in length, there
884-1017: The deadline for the restoration of the Executive to 21 October 2019. Section 9 of the Act provided that, if an Executive were not restored by that date: On 21 October 2019, as a result of the Executive not being restored, sections 58 and 59 of the 1861 Act were repealed, decriminalising abortion in Northern Ireland. Act of Parliament (UK) King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee An Act of Parliament in
918-440: The largest category of legislation, in principle affecting the public general law applying to everyone across the entire United Kingdom, or at least to one or more of its constituent countries of England , Northern Ireland , Scotland , or Wales . Most public general acts proceed through Parliament as a public bill. Occasionally a bill is treated as hybrid . Private acts are either local or personal in their effect, applying to
952-777: The proposed bill and present their objections to committees of MPs and Lords." They include acts to confer powers on certain local authorities, a recent example being the Canterbury City Council Bill, which makes provisions relating to street trading and consumer protection in the city. Private bills can also affect certain companies: the Northern Bank Bill allowed the statutory right of Northern Bank to issue bank notes to be transferred to Danske Bank which had acquired it. Other private bills may affect particular companies established by Act of Parliament such as TSB Bank and Transas. Personal acts are
986-487: The relevant policy committee of the Cabinet. The proposals are only discussed at a meeting if disagreements arise. Even an uncontroversial proposal may face administrative hurdles. A potential change in the law may have to wait for a more extensive bill in that policy area to be brought forward before it is worthwhile devoting parliamentary time to it. The proposal will then be bundled together with more substantive measures in
1020-489: The same Bill. The Ministerial Committee on the Legislative Programme (LP), including the leaders and government chief whips in both houses, is responsible for the timetable of legislation. This committee decides which house a bill will start in, recommends to the Cabinet which proposals will be in the King's Speech , which will be published in draft and how much parliamentary time will be required. Following
1054-410: The whole of the United Kingdom . A draft piece of legislation is called a bill . When this is passed by Parliament and given royal assent , it becomes an act and part of statute law . Acts of Parliament are classified as either "public general acts" or "local and personal acts" (also known as "private acts"). Bills are also classified as "public", "private", or "hybrid". Public general acts form
Abortion Act 1967 - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-533: The woman. Some Members of Parliament claimed not to have been aware of the vast change the decoupling of the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929 would have on the Abortion Act 1967, particularly in relation to the unborn disabled child. Politicians from the unionist and nationalist parties in Northern Ireland joined forces on 20 June 2000 to block any extension of the Abortion Act 1967 to Northern Ireland where terminations were only allowed on
1122-462: The workings of the Act in 1974 and declared its support. Changes to the Abortion Act 1967 were introduced in Parliament through the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 . The time limits were lowered from 28 to 24 weeks for most cases on the grounds that medical technology had advanced sufficiently to justify the change. Restrictions were removed for late abortions in cases of risk to life, fetal abnormality, or grave physical and mental injury to
1156-446: Was a risk to physical or mental health within 24 weeks of pregnancy, or, at any time during pregnancy, where the pregnant woman's life was at immediate risk, there was a risk to the pregnant mother's physical or mental health, or a severe or fatal fetal abnormality had been detected. In the latter two cases, the good faith opinion of two registered medical professionals is required. The bill was introduced by Liberal MP David Steel as
#935064