The prevailing secularist Zeitgeist infects even a small, self-governing Crown dependency such as the Isle of Man.
Eager to make their ‘modernising’ mark, some of the island’s elected representatives (MHKs) are pushing for dramatically greater abortion availability. Leading the charge is Dr Alex Allinson, a practising GP who admits to working around the island’s existing Termination of Pregnancy Act.
Present law
The 1995 Act permits abortion by a hospital surgeon ‘if that surgeon and an independent medical practitioner’ believe it to be necessary to preserve the mother’s life. It also permits abortion up to 24 weeks if the baby is ‘seriously handicapped’, and up to birth when the child is thought unlikely to survive.
