Statutory reform is needed in abortion law because of serious tensions in how it can be interpreted, according to Kent Law School professor Sally Sheldon.
Professor Sheldon argues that abortion legislation no longer makes sense in the context of modern medical practice.
Her research, presented at a London conference, found that the lack of clarity is a particularly shocking failing in the context of legislation which threatens onerous criminal sanctions against professionals who are acting in good faith and providing safe care to women.
At the conference on 23 March, entitled How Can a State Control Swallowing? Medical Abortion and the Law, held at The Medical Society of London, Professor Sheldon presented her findings that abortion pills have brought about a revolution in abortion provision. There has been a significant decrease in maternal mortality worldwide and the pills now account for over half of all legal terminations reported in Britain.
In both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, where the regulation of abortion is highly restrictive, the widespread use of abortion pills is likely to be an important (but not the only) reason for the decline in numbers seeking access to abortion services in England.
Professor Sheldon, whose The Medical Abortion and the Law study forms part of a research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), is a leading expert and commentator on the regulation of abortion in the UK. She was recently awarded a £0.5m research grant by the AHRC for a second project in this area, a two-year historical study entitled The Abortion Act (1967): a Biography.
Professor Sheldon teaches Health Care Law and Ethics to undergraduate and postgraduate students at Kent Law School. She contributed to a discussion about the decriminalisation of abortion at the House of Commons in October 2014 and is a trustee of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. She has published widely in the area of health care ethics and law with books including Beyond Control: Medical Power and Abortion Law, a co-edited collection of essays on Feminist Perspectives on Health Care Law and a socio-legal study of fatherhood called Fragmenting Fatherhood, co-authored with Richard Collier of Newcastle Law School.
Download a PDF copy of Professor Sheldon’s findings: Medical Abortion and the Law_web