The UK’s highest court will say today whether two Catholic midwives have a right to reject any involvement in abortion procedures.
A health authority challenged a previous appeal at the Court of Session in Edinburgh last year which found Mary Doogan and Connie Wood are legally entitled to be conscientious objectors to the process.
Five justices have been considering the appeal by Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS.
It centres on the limits of the Abortion Act 1967, which says that “no person shall be under any duty … to participate in any treatment authorised by this Act to which he has a conscientious objection”.
But the court is deciding whether this means the Catholics can also refuse to supervise staff that is caring for women after the termination.
The health board has accepted that the women would have no role in abortions because of their faith but they want that to go further so they do not have to delegate, supervise and support staff involved in treating women who are having abortions.
Both women were working at Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital when the case was first launched several years ago.
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