Book contents
- The Abortion Act 1967
- Reviews
- Law in Context
- The Abortion Act 1967
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Cases
- Table of Legislation
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Early Years
- 3 The Parliamentary Battle for Restrictive Reform
- 4 The Battle for Normalisation
- 5 The Battle for Legal Meaning
- 6 The Battle for Northern Ireland
- 7 The Parliamentary Battle for Modernising Reform
- 8 A Biography of the ‘Great Untouchable’
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - The Battle for Legal Meaning
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 November 2022
- The Abortion Act 1967
- Reviews
- Law in Context
- The Abortion Act 1967
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Cases
- Table of Legislation
- 1 Introduction
- 2 The Early Years
- 3 The Parliamentary Battle for Restrictive Reform
- 4 The Battle for Normalisation
- 5 The Battle for Legal Meaning
- 6 The Battle for Northern Ireland
- 7 The Parliamentary Battle for Modernising Reform
- 8 A Biography of the ‘Great Untouchable’
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 5 considers those battles regarding the Abortion Act that found their way to the courts, as broader struggles over the meaning of the Act became framed as narrow, technical questions of statutory interpretation. We consider the role of Pro-Life (and, to a much lesser extent, Pro-Choice) groups in driving this litigation and explore how the focus and framing of these disputes would change over time in line with the shifting centre of the moral debate. We consider how meaning was given to the statutory text, emphasising the important roles played by doctors in giving meaning to the Act before these disputes reached the courts.
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- The Abortion Act 1967A Biography of a UK Law, pp. 151 - 189Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022