Laws Concerning Abortion, Death Penalty, and Assisted Dying: Report

This report examines the legal landscape surrounding abortion, the death penalty, and assisted dying in the United Kingdom. It begins by outlining the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967, which permits abortion under specific circumstances, and highlights the legal framework established by the Abolition of Death Penalty Act 1965, which abolished capital punishment. Furthermore, it addresses the implications of the Suicide Act 1961, which criminalizes assisting suicide, and touches upon the legal status of euthanasia. The report references relevant academic sources, including journal articles and books, to support its analysis of these complex and often contentious legal issues. The report provides a succinct overview of the current legal positions, offering insights into the regulations and ethical considerations associated with each topic.

THE VALUE OF LIFE
(REPORT)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

MAIN BODY
Summarize laws relating to abortion, the death penalty and assisted dying
Abortion is a legal practice under certain circumstances in England, Wales and Scotland
based on the Act of Abortion 1967 and liberal abortion laws in Europe and is still prohibited in
Northern Ireland. Abortion is allowed in UK during the first twenty-four weeks of the pregnancy
and beyond for medical reasons and that act are as follows:
Section 1 (1) of the Abortion Act 1967 in England, Wales and Scotland reads:
A person shall not be guilty of offense under law relating to abortion when pregnancy is
terminated by a registered practitioner and agreed by two doctors that there were medical
grounds for it (Sedgh, G. and et.al., 2012).
The murder or Abolition of Death Penalty Act 1965 is the act of parliament of United
Kingdom that abolished the death penalty for homicide in Great Britain and it replaced the
penalty of death with mandatory sentence of imprisonment of life of the culprit (Hood and
Hoyle, 2015.). The act renders is to abolish punishment for capital murder in case of persons
convicted in UK or corresponding offence by court in connection to make provisions for the
punishment of culprit that leaves four capital offences; piracy with violence, crime, kill or
grievous body harm, incendiarism in royal dockyards and espionage.
Suicide Act of 1961 is an offence to aid, counsel and assist or procure the suicide of
another and that individual who committed this crime is liable to imprisonment for long term
exceeding fourteen years (Delamothe, Snow and Godlee, 2014). Euthanasia is the act of
deliberately ending a person's life to relieve from pain and suffering, depending on the
circumstances is regarded as murder with life imprisonment penalty.
1

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Delamothe, T., Snow, R. and Godlee, F., 2014. Why the Assisted Dying Bill should become law
in England and Wales. BMJ: British Medical Journal (Online), 349.
Hood, R. and Hoyle, C., 2015. The death penalty: A worldwide perspective. OUP Oxford.
Sedgh, G. and et.al., 2012. Induced abortion: incidence and trends worldwide from 1995 to
2008. The Lancet. 379(9816). pp.625-632.
2