A private member's Bill was published that was designed to amend the Abortion Act 1967 to make provision for the termination of pregnancy following certification by one registered medical practitioner.
Source: Abortion Act 1967 (Amendment) Bill, Baroness Tonge, TSO
Links: Bill
Date: 2014-Jun
An article examined access to, and experience of, later abortion by women in Scotland. It said that reasons for seeking later abortion were complex and varied. The law in England allowed later stage terminations than in Scotland, but the article said that women in the study perceived that the resources required to travel to England were a potential barrier to access, and felt that such travel was distressing and stigmatizing. The article concluded that it was necessary to reduce barriers to access and to improve local abortion provision.
Source: Carrie Purcell, Sharon Cameron, Lucy Caird, Gillian Flett, George Laird, Catriona Melville, and Lisa McDaid, 'Access to and experience of later abortion: accounts from women in Scotland', Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Volume 46 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-May
An article said that the medicalization of abortion was a fraught and incomplete process involving fundamental tensions over doctors' responsibilities. It linked medicalization to a process of governmentalization, which required constant renegotiation of the identities of doctors, women, and foetuses.
Source: Fran Amery, 'Social questions, medical answers: contesting British abortion law', Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, Volume 21 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-Apr
An article examined the relationship between religious factors and opposition to abortion. It said that opposition to abortion was not solely based on differences in faith or denominational affiliation: greater religious involvement or commitment, and more traditionalist beliefs, were found to underpin opposition.
Source: Ben Clements, 'Religion and the sources of public opposition to abortion in Britain: the role of "belonging", "behaving" and "believing"', Sociology, Volume 48 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-Apr
An article said that the lack of a clear law on abortion in Northern Ireland had led to confusion and misinformation. It said there was evidence of religious and cultural bias at an institutional level against abortion in any circumstances, and the legislatures in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom had failed to live up both to domestic legal standards and to international human rights law on reproductive health.
Source: Fiona Bloomer and Eileen Fegan, 'Critiquing recent abortion law and policy in Northern Ireland', Critical Social Policy, Volume 34 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2014-Feb