C v S
A foetus of 18 to 21 weeks' gestation was not capable of being born alive for the purposes of the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, so a father could not prevent the abortion.
Facts
A woman who was between 18 and 21 weeks pregnant intended to have an abortion. The father of the child, a student, applied for an injunction to prevent the abortion, arguing that it would be an offence under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929, which made it an offence to destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive, because the foetus at that stage of development was capable of being born alive. He also sought to bring the proceedings on behalf of the foetus.
Legal principle
The Court of Appeal dismissed the application. Sir John Donaldson MR said that, on the medical evidence, a foetus at that stage of development, although it might show real and discernible signs of life, would not be capable of breathing, either naturally or with the aid of a ventilator, and so was not capable of being born alive within the meaning of the 1929 Act. The abortion would therefore not be an offence. The court also held that the foetus could not be a party to the proceedings. The time limit for most abortions was later set at 24 weeks by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.
Related cases on reproduction, children and mental health
- Bell v Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWCA Civ 1363
- Evans v United Kingdom (2008) 46 EHRR 34
- Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority [1986] AC 112
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust v A [2003] EWHC 259 (QB), [2003] 1 FLR 1091
- Paton v British Pregnancy Advisory Service Trustees [1979] QB 276
- Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust v Wyatt [2005] EWCA Civ 1181, [2005] 1 WLR 3995
- Re R (A Minor) (Wardship: Consent to Treatment) [1992] Fam 11
- R (Quintavalle) v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority [2005] UKHL 28, [2005] 2 AC 561
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