Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Aug 19:5:23992026211040023.
doi: 10.1177/23992026211040023. eCollection 2021 Jan-Dec.

Legal and non-legal barriers to abortion in Ireland and the United Kingdom

Sydney Calkin  1 , Ella Berny  2
Affiliations
Review

Legal and non-legal barriers to abortion in Ireland and the United Kingdom

Sydney Calkin et al. Med Access Point Care. .

Abstract

This article compares abortion laws, regulations and access patterns in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. We focus in most detail on the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and England with a shorter discussion of Scotland and Wales. We attend to the laws and legal reforms in each region but also consider the non-legal factors that restrict or facilitate abortion services in each place. In this article, we seek to illustrate the complex relationship between abortion law and abortion access, noting especially how non-legal barriers shape the way an abortion law functions for the people who live under it.

Keywords: Legislation; abortion; expanded access; policy; reproductive rights.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Offences against the Person Act 1861, pp. 58–59, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/24-25/100/contents
    1. HM Government. A new legal framework for abortion services in Northern Ireland: government consultation, 4 November 2019, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa... (accessed 1 February 2021).
    1. Calkin S. Transnational abortion pill flows and the political geography of abortion in Ireland. Territ Politic Gov 2021; 9(2): 163–179.
    1. Culwell KR, Hurwitz M. Addressing barriers to safe abortion. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2013; 121(Suppl. 1): S16–S19. - PubMed
    1. Johnstone R. After Morgentaler: the politics of abortion in Canada. Vancouver, BC, Canada: UBC Press, 2017.

LinkOut - more resources