Infant Life (Preservation) Act 1929

1 Punishment for child destruction. E+W

(1) Subject as hereinafter in this subsection provided, any person who, with intent to destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive, by any wilful act causes a child to die before it has an existence independent of its mother, shall be guilty of felony, to wit, of child destruction, and shall be liable on conviction thereof on indictment to penal servitude for life:

Provided that no person shall be found guilty of an offence under this section unless it is proved that the act which caused the death of the child was not done in good faith for the purpose only of preserving the life of the mother.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, evidence that a woman had at any material time been pregnant for a period of twenty-eight weeks or more shall be primâ facie proof that she was at that time pregnant of a child capable of being born alive.

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Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 Reference to penal servitude for life to be construed as reference to imprisonment for life or any shorter term: Criminal Justice Act 1948 (c. 58), s. 1(1)