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Professor John Robertson OBA
In the Herald today, this claim:
Grok disagrees, sort of:
There has not been an abortion conviction in Scotland since the Abortion Act 1967 came into force on April 27, 1968. Under the Act, which applies to Scotland, abortions are legal up to 24 weeks (or later in cases of severe fetal abnormality or risk to the woman’s life) when approved by two doctors. Procedures outside these grounds remain a criminal offense under common law, but no prosecutions or convictions have occurred since the Act’s implementation.This reflects Scotland’s pre-1967 common law, which was more flexible for therapeutic abortions than England’s Offences Against the Person Act 1861, leading to fewer prosecutions even before 1967. Historical records and legal analyses confirm the absence of cases, with experts noting that the Act’s framework has effectively prevented criminal actions against compliant procedures. Recent discussions on decriminalization highlight this record as a reason for reform, though the law still carries criminal potential. Yes, there was one recorded conviction for an illegal abortion in Scotland during the 2009–2010 financial year (which spans 2009 and early 2010), according to official figures from the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre. This marks the only such conviction in Scotland since detailed records began in 1989–1990, and it appears to be an isolated case under common law for procuring an abortion without medical sanction, rather than a procedure compliant with the Abortion Act 1967. No further details on the case (such as the individual’s identity or exact circumstances) are publicly specified in available summaries, and prosecutions remain exceptionally rare overall. This outlier does not alter the broader historical pattern of non-enforcement in Scotland compared to England and Wales.
In the Guardian 16 June 2025:
You might have seen their faces. Every few months nowadays, another woman appears in a British newspaper charged with a suspected illegal abortion. Often the woman looks pale and gaunt. Sometimes she hides behind sunglasses as she bows her head. The photographs of these women walking into court feel akin to a public shaming, where the stocks are replaced by a breaking news banner, but the judgment remains the same.
The urge for decriminalisation has increased as the risk of arrest has. It is estimated that more than 100 women have been prosecuted for a suspected abortion over the last decade. And the number of court cases and convictions has actually increased in the 21st century. Between 1861 and 2022, only three women in Great Britain were convicted of an illegal abortion. Since December 2022 alone, seven women have been charged. One woman has been jailed.
There is no mention of Scotland in this report on ‘Britain‘.
In Scotland:
there have been no recorded prosecutions since the 1967 Act came into force.
While it remains technically a criminal offence in Scotland, more 50 years of practice tells you that it is practically not one.
This is part of a better, not yet good enough I know, wider situation for women in Scotland. See, for example:
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 