Should the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago legalize abortion?
By Renelle Ramlal
In Trinidad and Tobago the performance of abortions is generally illegal under sections 56 and
57 of the Offences Against the Person Act of 3 April 1925, as amended. Nonetheless, under
general criminal law principles of necessity, an abortion can be legally performed to preserve the
mental and physical health of the pregnant woman. This exception excludes other circumstances
of unwanted pregnancies such as instances of rape, incest, foetal impairment, pregnancy of
minors. Thus, this paper will argue that abortion should remain illegal but the circumstances of a
legal abortion in exceptional cases should be extended. This requires an examination of the
possible advantages of legalizing abortion in these circumstances and a discussion of how this
can be justified under the criminal law.
Abortion is legally defined as "[t]he unlawful destruction, or the bringing forth prematurely, of
the human foetus before the natural time of birth" or "[t]he expulsion of the foetus at a period of
utero-gestation so ea rly that it has not acquired the power of sustaining an independent life."1
The current position on the law of abortion can be found under section 56 of the Offences
Against the Persons Act which reads: "Every woman, being with child, who, with intent to
procure her own miscarriage, unlawfully administers to herself any poison or other noxious
thing, or unlawfully uses any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent, and any
person who, with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman, whether she is or is not with
child, unlawfully administers to her or causes to be taken by her any poison or other noxious
thing, or unlawfully uses any instrument or other means whatsoever with the like intent, is liable
to imprisonment for four years."
Section 57 also reads "Any person who unlawfully supplies or procures any poison or other
noxious thing, or any instrument or thing whatsoever, knowing that the same is intended to be
unlawfully used or employed with intent to procure the miscarriage of any woman, whether she
is or is not with child, is liable to imprisonment for two years."2
1
2
Black's Law Dictionary, p20 (Revised 4th Edition, 1968).
Offences Against the Persons Act, 1925 (Trinidad and Tobago) Chap 11:08.
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