Explain the differences between the regulation of abortion in the Essay

Explain the differences between the regulation of abortion in the United Kingdom and the United States of America; and speculate how any reforms may occur - Essay Example The first is when a woman’s pregnancy seems to be life threatening. The latter term refers to any significant risks to both the physical and mental health of the patient. The medical risk must be something assessed by two doctors if the pregnancy has exceeded twenty four weeks. In the event that the pregnancy would cause severe medical damage to a mother or that it happens to be a medical emergency, then consent from just one doctor is enough to terminate the pregnancy. 2 The second circumstance that would allow for an abortion in the United Kingdom is in the event that the unborn child will have extreme mental or physical abnormalities. The abnormalities must be certified by a medical practitioner. It should be noted that the above two restrictions apply in Wales, Scotland, and England but not in Northern Ireland. All in all, abortions in the UK are illegal except for medical reasons. In this country, abortion was legalised in the 1970s after the proverbial case of Roe v. Wade. However there are still numerous laws in place to regulate abortions so as to ensure that it is done well; the first among these are the TRAP laws. 3 These are laws are directed towards medical practitioners offering abortions and do not apply to other types pf practitioners. The government introduced this so that there could be greater safety in the process of conducting abortions. These laws mostly dwell on the way the abortion procedure is conducted rather than the choices made prior to the abortion. Consequently, the laws normally affect doctors rather than mothers but the effects are also felt by women. His first requirement in these laws is that doctors offering abortion services need to have a valid licence and failure to do so will result in fines. The other one is that the department of health can check on performance of procedures during any hour of operation, clinics are