University of Winchester law academics lent their legal expertise to a major medical ethics conference.
Dr Emma Nottingham, head of the Law Department, was on the organising committee of the Institute of Medical Ethics 2024 conference which took place in London recently and featured presentations by two Winchester law lecturers.
Dr Emily Ottley was a keynote speaker at the event, giving a presentation on the current legal landscape surrounding abortion law.
Her talk focused on three ‘hot topics’ - the criminalisation of abortion, abortions where the foetus has Down's Syndrome, and protests outside abortion clinics.
Dr Khadijeh Masty presented a paper entitled ‘An evaluation of recent policy developments under NHS England with a particular consideration of children’s best interest’.
She discussed the new Martha’s Rule introduced by NHS England and the roll out of The National Paediatric Early Warning System (PEWS) in 2023.
This was followed by a discussion about whether these developments had expanded parental power in establishing a child’s best interest and the ethical considerations underlying medical decision making in this area.
The conference which took place in London brought together lawyers, philosophers, bioethicists and healthcare practitioners in order to reflect on contemporary issues in medical ethics and bioethics.
Topic covered included the use of Artificial Intelligence, global health equity and climate resilience.
Dr Nottingham said: “It is wonderful to see Winchester academics sharing their expertise on cutting edge issues.”
Pictured: Dr Emily Ottley (left), Dr Emma Nottingham (centre) and Dr Khadijeh Masty at the Institute of Medical Ethics conference.
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