Devolving abortion law

The power to legislate in relation to abortion was devolved to the Scottish Parliament under section 53 of the Scotland Act 2016 (“SA 2016”), which deletes section J1 from part 2 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 (“SA 1998”). This article briefly describes the existing legal context against which the transfer of power takes place, discusses some of the issues associated with exercising the power, and reflects upon assurances that there are no plans to change the law in this area