Clarification of time limit for termination of pregnancy performed under Grounds C and D of the Abortion Act 1967
Updated 28 March 2019
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Originally published 23 July 2018 and a clarification published on 28 March 2019.
I am writing to clarify the Department of Health and Social Care’s interpretation of the legal time limit for termination of pregnancy performed under Grounds C or D of the Abortion Act 1967, which sets out that an abortion can legally be performed under these Grounds where “the pregnancy has not exceeded its twenty-fourth week”.
The Department’s legal advice is that the time limit for abortion performed under Grounds C or D equates to a pregnancy not exceeding 23 weeks and 6 days. The taking of the second abortion drug or surgical evacuation forms part of the treatment for termination of pregnancy and therefore all elements of treatment must be completed by 23 weeks and 6 days.
This advice is based on the fact that, clinically, a pregnancy is dated from the first day of the woman’s last menstrual period (LMP). As you will be aware, this day is counted as day 0 of her pregnancy. Therefore, when the woman reaches 23 weeks + 0 days she will have entered her 24th week of pregnancy, which will run from 23 weeks + 0 days to 23 weeks + 6 days (7 completed days of pregnancy in total). Using this method of calculation, a woman will have exceeded her 24th week of pregnancy once she is 24 weeks + 0 days pregnant, or in other words, from midnight on the expiration of her 24th week of pregnancy. On the expiration of her 24th week of pregnancy, she will have been pregnant for a total of 168 days; an abortion on the 169th day of pregnancy (24 weeks + 0) would, in the view of DHSC’s legal services, be unlawful.
To remove any ambiguity, HSA4 forms and other relevant documentation, including the Required Standard Operating Procedures for independent sector providers will be amended to clearly state that abortion under Grounds C or D can legally be performed up to and including 23 weeks and 6 days.