Foetal Disability and Abortion in the UK: A Reproductive and Disability Justice Perspective

This article applies the interconnected frameworks of reproductive justice and disability justice to the issue of abortion on the grounds of foetal disability. There have been recent claims as to the discriminatory nature of the foetal impairment ground included within UK abortion law, feeding into the perception of abortion rights as incompatible with disability rights. I draw upon scholarship from the US context to argue that access to abortion is part of a broader social justice agenda, which includes reproductive and disability justice. Thus, this article challenges this idea of incompatibility and considers what is required to work towards reproductive and disability justice in the context of abortion and foetal disability in the UK.