HL Deb 28 June 1979 vol 400 c1693WA
The Marquess of LOTHIAN

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether under the provisions of the Infant Life Protection Act 1929 it is an offence for foetuses to be destroyed which were capable of being born alive.

The PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY of STATE, HOME OFFICE (Lord Belstead)

It is an offence under the Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929 for any person, with intent to destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive, by any wilful act to cause a child to die before it has an existence independent of its mother, except where the act causing the death of the child was done in good faith for the purpose only of preserving the life of the mother.