(1) Pre 1803 Abortion was governed by the common law (i.e. judicial decisions). Bracton According to Bracton, it was a criminal offence only after quickening, the moment when the woman can first feel the foetus moving inside her

(2) Offences Against the Person Act 1861, S58 & S59 The OAPA 1861 stated that someone must unlawfully do something with a poison/instrument/noxious thing, with intention to procure a miscarriage. The minimum life sentence for a woman who intentionally procures her own miscarriage is life imprisonment.

R v Bourne 1937 According to the ratio in Bourne, it would be possible for an abortion to be carried out lawfully, not only where the pregnant woman was in imminent danger of death but also where the effect of carrying out the pregnancy to term might be to make a woman a physical or a mental wreck.

However, historically doctors were prepared to interpret "physical/mental wreck" widely to include distress; these doctors risked prosecution so they charged high fees, and therefore abortions were inaccessible to the majority of women, and only those who could afford to pay were able to access termination procedures.