Abortion Access and the Benefits and Limitations of Abortion-Permissive Legal Frameworks: Lessons from the United Kingdom

Romanis, Elizabeth Chloe

doi:10.1017/s096318012200086x

Abortion Access and the Benefits and Limitations of Abortion-Permissive Legal Frameworks: Lessons from the United Kingdom

Romanis, Elizabeth Chloe

Authors

Dr Chloe Romanis elizabeth.c.romanis@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

This paper argues that abortion access is an important subject for bioethics scholarship and reflects on the relationship between legal frameworks and access to care. The author uses the example of the United Kingdom to examine the benefits and limitations of abortion-permissive legal frameworks in terms of access. These are legal frameworks that enable the provision of abortion but subject to restrictions. An abortion-permissive regime—first in Great Britain and then in Northern Ireland—has gone some way to improving access to care over time. However, aspects of the regime (that lead to its description as permissive rather than supportive of abortion) have the potential to endanger abortion access in the future and so legal reform is necessary.

Citation

Romanis, E. C. (2023). Abortion Access and the Benefits and Limitations of Abortion-Permissive Legal Frameworks: Lessons from the United Kingdom. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 32(3), 378-390. https://doi.org/10.1017/s096318012200086x

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jan 1, 2023
Online Publication Date	Jan 23, 2023
Publication Date	2023-07
Deposit Date	Apr 13, 2023
Publicly Available Date	Jul 24, 2023
Journal	Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics
Print ISSN	0963-1801
Electronic ISSN	1469-2147
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	32
Issue	3
Pages	378-390
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/s096318012200086x
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1177321

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Copyright Statement
This article has been published in a revised form in Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics https://doi.org/10.1017/S096318012200086X. This version is published under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND licence. No commercial re-distribution or re-use allowed. Derivative works cannot be distributed. © The Author(s), 2023

Published Journal Article (322 Kb)
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.