Abortion (Scotland) Act 2018 1

MODEL
SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

Abortion (Scotland) Bill

SP Bill 31

(as amended at Stage 3)

An Act of the Scottish Parliament to reform the law relating to abortion.

PART 1
UNLAWFUL TERMINATION

1 Common law offences

Any rule of law relating to the procurement of abortion under which it is an offence for a
person to—
(a) procure abortion,
(b) administer a substance, or use an instrument, to procure abortion,
(c) procure such a substance or instrument for the purpose of procuring abortion, or
(d) perform a termination in accordance with Part 2 (lawful termination),
is abolished.

2 Offence of unlawful termination of a pregnancy

(1) It is an offence for a person to terminate a pregnancy otherwise than in accordance with
Part 2.
(2) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a
fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both),
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for life or a fine (or both).
(3) But where an act constituting an offence under subsection (1) is not done in accordance
with section 3 (consent to be required for termination), the offence is punishable only on
conviction on indictment.
2 Abortion (Scotland) Act 2018

PART 2
LAWFUL TERMINATION

3 Consent to be required for termination

A pregnancy must not be terminated without the consent of the pregnant woman (“W”).

4 Maximum duration for terminable pregnancies

A pregnancy must not be terminated if it has exceeded its twenty-sixth week.

5 Medical terminations to be performed in approved facilities

(1) Any treatment for the termination of pregnancy which is administered by a registered
medical practitioner must be carried out in an approved facility.
(2) An approved facility is—
(a) a health service hospital, within the meaning of the National Health Service
(Scotland) Act 1978,
(b) a place which was, on the day this section came into force, approved by the Secretary
of State under section 1(4) of the Abortion Act 1967,
(c) a place approved for the purposes of this section by the Scottish Ministers.
(3) The power under subsection (2)(c) to approve a place includes the power—
(a) in relation to treatment consisting primarily in the use of such medicines as may be
specified in the approval and carried out in such manner as may be so specified, to
approve a class of places, and
(b) to revoke, for the purposes of this section, an approval by the Secretary of State
under section 1(4) of the Abortion Act 1967.

6 Certain terminations to be permissible outside approved facilities

(1) A pregnancy may only be terminated outside an approved facility if—
(a) where W is capable, the termination is performed by W,
(b) where W is incapable, the termination is performed by or at the direction of a welfare
attorney of W, and
(c) the termination is performed by means of a prescription only medicine—
(i) obtained under a prescription issued by an appropriate practitioner, and
(ii) administered in accordance with that prescription.
(2) In this section—
“appropriate practitioner” has the meaning given in regulation 214 of the Human
Medicines Regulations 2012;
“incapable” has the meaning given in section 1(6) of the Adults with Incapacity
(Scotland) Act 2000 (and “capable” is to be construed accordingly);
“prescription only medicine” has the meaning given in regulation 5(3) of the Human
Medicines Regulations 2012;
“welfare attorney” has the meaning given in section 16(2) of the Adults with Incapacity
(Scotland) Act 2000.

7 Saving for emergency procedures

(1) Sections 3 and 4 do not apply to a termination performed by a registered medical
Abortion (Scotland) Act 2018 3

practitioner if the conditions in subsection (3) are met.

(2) Sections 3, 4 and 5 do not apply to a termination performed by a registered medical
practitioner if the practitioner is of the opinion, formed in good faith, that the termination
is immediately necessary to save the life or to prevent grave injury to the physical or
mental health of W.
(3) The conditions in this subsection are met if two registered medical practitioners are of the
opinion, formed in good faith—
(a) that W is incapable of giving or refusing consent, and
(b) either—
(i) that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk to the life of W,
greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, or
(ii) where W is detained under Part 5 (emergency detention) or 6 (short-term
detention) of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003,
that the termination would be beneficial to the mental health of W.

PART 3
SUPPLEMENTARY AND GENERAL

Supplementary

8 Medical practitioners: no duty to perform terminations

(1) Subject to subsection (3), no registered medical practitioner has a duty (whether by
contract or by any statutory or other legal requirement) to participate in any treatment
authorised by this Act.
(2) But where a registered medical practitioner refuses to terminate a pregnancy, that
practitioner must provide to the pregnant woman such information as the practitioner
reasonably believes would enable the pregnant woman to locate another practitioner to
perform the termination.
(3) Nothing in this section affects any duty to participate in treatment which is necessary to
save the life or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of a
pregnant woman.

9 Requirement to provide an informative statement

(1) A registered medical practitioner who is to perform a termination must provide to the
pregnant woman a written statement detailing the treatment.
(2) The statement must—
(a) describe the treatment,
(b) describe the potential effects of the treatment,
(c) describe any counselling which is available in relation to the treatment,
(d) be written in objective terms, and
(e) be in, or as near as may be in, a form that the Scottish Ministers may by regulations
prescribe.
(3) The pregnant woman may request that the statement be provided in another language, and
the registered medical practitioner must secure that a translation of the statement is
4 Abortion (Scotland) Act 2018

provided to the pregnant woman before any treatment for the termination is carried out.
(4) Regulations under this section are subject to the negative procedure.

10 Requirements to display informative signs

(1) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations require the display of a sign which provides
information about or relating to terminations.
(2) Regulations under subsection (1) may include provision about—
(a) the form and content of the sign,
(b) the locations at which the sign must be displayed, and
(c) the persons or bodies to which the requirement to display the sign applies.
(3) Regulations under subsection (1) are subject to the affirmative procedure.

General

11 Meaning of consent
(1) In this Act, “consent” means free agreement as defined in Part 2 of the Sexual Offences
(Scotland) Act 2009, with the modifications in subsection (2).
(2) References in that Part to—
(a) A are references to a person other than B,
(b) B are references to W,
(c) sections 1 to 9 and Parts 1 and 3 of that 2009 Act are omitted.
(3) In determining for the purpose of section 7(3)(a) whether W is incapable of giving or
refusing consent, the provisions of section 17 of that 2009 Act (capacity to consent) apply.

12 Repeal of the Abortion Act 1967

The Abortion Act 1967 (c. 87) is repealed.

13 Commencement
This Act comes into force on the day after Royal Assent.

14 Short title
The short title of this Act is the Abortion (Scotland) Act 2018.