UCC School of Law hosts successful ELPIN (Ethics, Law and Pregnancy in Ireland Network) interdisciplinary workshop

14 Feb 2020

The first in a series of ELPIN workshops was held on Friday 7 February.

This workshop was entitled 'Framing the Pregnant Subject', and set the scene for network members to explore and identify ways in which pregnant subjects are and have been framed culturally, ethically, philosophically, and legally in Ireland to date and explored possibilities for reframing the pregnant subject in a post-repeal Ireland.  

The workshop was well attended with 21 network members present representing a diverse range of academic disciplines from sociology and social studies, philosophy, healthcare and feminist law, medical ethics, gender politics and clinical practitioners from across primary and secondary care. With two guest speakers, Professor Elselijn Kingma from University of Southampton and Dr Emma Milne from University of Plymouth, providing stimulating presentations on the metaphysics of pregnancy and on criminal law and newborn child death, the workshop also provided plenty of opportunity for networking and sharing current research initiatives and interests.

Future ELPIN workshops in June and September 2020 will focus on Agency, Choice and Communication, and on Responding to Experiences of Harm.  

About ELPIN

For more than 30 years, legal and medical responses to pregnancy and childbirth were constrained by the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which protected the right to life of the 'unborn' and profoundly limited the pregnant subject's agency and health. Following the repeal of the Eighth Amendment, it is time to re-examine all aspects of pregnancy and childbirth from a position which highlights the importance of agency, autonomy and dignity. The ELPIN (Ethics, Law and Pregnancy in Ireland) Project has been established to do just that. The project is led by Dr Claire Murray in the School of Law and is funded by the Wellcome Trust. Visit ELPIN's website: https://www.ucc.ie/en/elpin/