Glasgow City News
14th November - 20th November 2014 • Glasgow City News 1
Issue 8 | 14th - 20th November 2014 | Published by Caledonia Publications
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Glasgow Catholic midwives’ fight to avoid abortions goes to Supreme Court …ultimately a balance needs to be struck between that exercise of conscience and women’s access to legal services.
SOUTHERN GENERAL: Doogan and Wood were employed as labour ward co-ordinators at the Glasgow Hospital
RULLING: Mary Doogan and Connie Wood, who are conscientious objectors to abortion, were successful at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in April last year
The case of two midwives, from Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital, fighting for the legal right to avoid any involvement in abortion procedures reaches the UK’s highest court. THE UK’S highest court is being urged to overturn a ruling in favour of two Catholic midwives who object to any involvement in abortion procedures. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde appealed to the Supreme Court after Mary Doogan and Connie Wood, who are conscientious objectors to abortion, were successful at the Court of Session in Edinburgh in April last year.
Ms Doogan, from Garrowhill in Glasgow, and Mrs Wood, from Clarkston in East Renfrewshire, were employed as labour ward co-ordinators at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow. The challenge before five justices centres on the scope of the right to conscientious objection under the Abortion Act 1967, which provides that “no person shall be under any duty ... to participate in any treatment authorised by this Act to which he has a conscientious objection”.
The issue to be decided by Lady Hale, Lord Wilson, Lord Reed, Lord Hughes and Lord Hodge is whether the women’s entitlement to conscientious objection includes the entitlement to refuse to supervise staff in the provision of care to patients undergoing terminations.
By Katie Forrester
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