Beyond the Tram Lines: Disability Discrimination, Reproductive Rights and Anachronistic Abortion Law

Sheldon, S

Beyond the Tram Lines: Disability Discrimination, Reproductive Rights and Anachronistic Abortion Law

Sheldon, S

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Publisher:: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 2023, 20, (20), pp. 1-29
Issue Date:: 2023

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Sheldon, S https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5472-9655
dc.date.accessioned	2024-02-22T22:48:04Z
dc.date.available	2024-02-22T22:48:04Z
dc.date.issued	2023
dc.identifier.citation	Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 2023, 20, (20), pp. 1-29
dc.identifier.issn	0143-6503
dc.identifier.issn	1464-3820
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/175828
dc.description.abstract	<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This article takes as its starting point the recent case of Crowter, which challenged the law permitting provision of abortion on the grounds of fetal anomaly. It begins by briefly locating the case within a longer ‘biography’ of the Abortion Act 1967, casting important light on the issue raised within it. It then focuses in detail on the claims made in Crowter, exploring how important moral, social and political concerns with disability discrimination were refracted through an anti-abortion lens as they were translated into legal argument. As a result, the legal remedies sought were simultaneously disproportionate and insufficient to address the harms described. Whilst agreeing that the Abortion Act reflects anachronistic and discriminatory understandings of disability and is overdue reform, the article argues that a response that fully reflects modern ethical values will require more radical change than envisaged in Crowter, and that this must refuse an opposition between the rights of pregnant and disabled people.</jats:p>
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Oxford University Press (OUP)
dc.relation.ispartof	Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1093/ojls/gqad025
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1801 Law, 2203 Philosophy
dc.subject.classification	Law
dc.subject.classification	48 Law and legal studies
dc.title	Beyond the Tram Lines: Disability Discrimination, Reproductive Rights and Anachronistic Abortion Law
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	20
utslib.for	1801 Law
utslib.for	2203 Philosophy
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
dc.date.updated	2024-02-22T22:48:03Z
pubs.issue	20
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	20
utslib.citation.issue	20

Abstract:

Abstract This article takes as its starting point the recent case of Crowter, which challenged the law permitting provision of abortion on the grounds of fetal anomaly. It begins by briefly locating the case within a longer ‘biography’ of the Abortion Act 1967, casting important light on the issue raised within it. It then focuses in detail on the claims made in Crowter, exploring how important moral, social and political concerns with disability discrimination were refracted through an anti-abortion lens as they were translated into legal argument. As a result, the legal remedies sought were simultaneously disproportionate and insufficient to address the harms described. Whilst agreeing that the Abortion Act reflects anachronistic and discriminatory understandings of disability and is overdue reform, the article argues that a response that fully reflects modern ethical values will require more radical change than envisaged in Crowter, and that this must refuse an opposition between the rights of pregnant and disabled people.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/175828