Midwives' 'civil liberties breached' in conscientious objection case
19 Jan 2012
Midwives from Scotland have claimed that being forced to supervise
staff undertaking abortions violates their
human
rights.
Mary Doogan, 57, and Concepta Wood, 51, both practising Catholics,
claim that the failure of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) to
recognise their conscientious objection to being involved in the
delegation, supervision or support of staff taking part in abortion
procedures breached their civil liberties.
The women have now taken the case to the Court of Session in
Edinburgh in order to have a ruling set aside in a
judicial review and
determine whether their rights under Article 9 of the European
Convention on Human Rights have been violated.
NHS GGC said that it recognised their right not to participate in
terminations in terms of the 1967 Abortion Act but said it acted
lawfully in asking the women to delegate, supervise and support
staff.
It claims that the right to conscientious objection under the Human
Rights Act does not include the right to refuse these lesser
duties.
"They hold a religious belief that all human life is sacred from
the moment of conception and that termination of pregnancy is a
grave offence against human life," Ms Doogan and Ms Wood said in
their petition to the court.
The statement added that the pair believe that their involvement in
the process of abortion is wrong, offensive to God and goes against
the teachings of their church.
The case comes just weeks after photographer Jules Mattsson was
awarded compensation from the police for a breach of his civil
liberties after he was wrongfully arrested for taking pictures at a
public event.
Officers at the event told him he was to stop taking pictures and
when he refused he was arrested for breaching the peace and told he
was "running around being stupid and gay".
