Abortion which midwives usually worked were relatively safe. In addition, some commentators have written that, despite improved medical procedures, the period from the 1930s until legalization also saw more zealous enforcement of anti-abortion laws, and concomitantly an increasing control of abortion providers by organized crime. Soviet Russia (1919), Iceland (1935) and Sweden (1938) were among the first countries to legalize certain or all forms of abortion. In 1935 Nazi Germany, a law was passed permitting abortions for those deemed "hereditarily ill", while women considered of German stock were specifically prohibited from having abortions. Beginning in the second half of the twentieth
Abortion in the United Kingdom Abortion in the United Kingdom Abortion is legal under certain circumstances in England and Wales and Scotland based on the Abortion Act 1967, then one of the most liberal abortion laws in Europe when it was enacted. In Northern Ireland however, abortion is prohibited under most circumstances. In Great Britain, abortion is generally allowed for socioeconomic reasons during the first twenty-four weeks of the pregnancy (the highest such limit in the EU, together with the Netherlands), and beyond for medical reasons. In England and Wales and Scotland, section 1(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 now reads: Subsections (a) to (d)