The crimes of abortion and infanticide : the position of different jurisdictions

Abstract

This study deals with the elements present in the crimes of abortion and infanticide, and the position obtaining in Malta, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America on these crimes. In all three jurisdictions, abortion is the voluntary termination of a pregnancy whilst infanticide is the killing of a child that is twelve months or younger by the mother. In both cases, a child is being killed however the sentence is completely different. Even though infanticide is considered to be an offence in all jurisdictions discussed in the study, not all the countries include the same punishment for the offence. In Malta, the mother committing the crime of infanticide would have acted with diminished responsibility, and in the United Kingdom this is seen as a defence to manslaughter. In the United States of America, infanticide is not seen as a separate offence from homicide. When it comes to abortion, Malta is the only state analysed in the study where it is always considered to be a crime, meanwhile in the United Kingdom there are exceptions, and in the United States it depends on the law obtaining in each state. Regardless of the fact that abortion is deemed a criminal offence in Malta, or in certain states of the United States of America, most people wishing to terminate their pregnancy find other ways to evade the law and terminate outside of their home state.