The following has been written jointly by Maria Strauss, an Associate at Farrer & Co, and Frank Cranmer

A post last April reported the judgment of the Inner House in Doogan & Anor v NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board [2013] ScotCS CSIH 36. Yesterday the Supreme Court allowed the Health Board’s appeal and set aside the Inner House’s declarator.

The background

Mary Doogan and Connie Wood were labour ward coordinators at the Southern General Hospital. Both are practising Roman Catholics; and when they started working in the labour ward they had claimed conscientious objection to participating in abortions, pursuant to s 4 of the Abortion Act 1967. That was accepted and, as a result, they took no part in the treatment of certain patients in the labour ward. Continue reading →