One in three women in the UK will have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old – and, with a few important caveats, accessing an abortion for a pregnancy at less than the 24-week limit is usually relatively straightforward.
So it comes as a surprise to many, according to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), that in most of Britain the procedure is still governed by a 160-year-old law that declares abortion a crime, and another, passed almost 60 years ago, that outlines the specific exceptions in which it can be allowed.
