Abortion doctors, professional identity and the law

This piece of research was based on a detailed interview study with 14 doctors who had spent at least a decade working as abortion providers. It was led by Ellie Lee, working with Jan Macvarish and Sally Sheldon, all of the University of Kent.

The aims of the project were:

1. To make a contribution to discussion of abortion provision, in the context of the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act in 2017.
2. To develop methodology and tools for a larger scale study about the work of, and issues confronting, abortion providers.
3. To develop sociological analysis of professional identity through this (and future) work.

Read more on background to the research

Preliminary Findings (PDF)

‘The 1967 Abortion Act fifty years on: Abortion, medical authority and the law revisited’, by Lee, Sheldon and Macvarish (journal article, Social Science and Medicine)

Dissemination event: Thursday 29 June 2017

• Post-event summary and written resources (PDF)
• More about the event
• Event programme

Find out more about abortion research by Ellie Lee here