By Allison Milbrath, Ilona Cenolli, and Zaina Mahmoud
What does it mean to be born? The answer to this question, and why it matters, might not be as straightforward as it first appears.
Our new paper explores how the speculative
Latest from Journal of Medical Ethics Blog
British Columbia’s mental health law needs to carry its history forward
By Austin Lam
On July 28, 2026, Justice Lauren Blake of the British Columbia (BC) Supreme Court ruled, in Council of Canadians with Disabilities v. British Columbia, that BC’s scheme for forcing psychiatric treatment on involuntary patients regardless of
Can safeguards make psychiatric coercion harder to end?
By Katarzyna Widlas-Klimsiak
The Council of Europe (CoE) is pursuing two different ways of protecting people who receive mental healthcare without their consent. A draft Additional Protocol to the Oviedo Convention would create binding obligations for states that ratify
Whose permission counts? Rethinking abortion access through the lens of authorization
By Shizuko Takahashi
A law permits abortion. A court has ruled, or a legislature has voted. Legality appears settled. But for the pregnant person in front of a clinician, legality is often not enough. Someone still has to authorize the
Moving beyond the “Balance Sheet”: How narrative ethics can inform judicial deliberations on treatment refusal
By Prof. Adv. Maya Peled Raz
Too often, when courts face the question of forced medical treatment for individuals under guardianship, the conversation quickly narrows to clinical calculations of risk and benefit. As a legal expert and clinical ethics consultant
“What my hand does, my heart does”: Conscience and assisted dying
By Helen Watt
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would permit assisted suicide in England and Wales for mentally capable adults reasonably expected to die within 6 months. Progress on the Bill has met a roadblock: we now
The 2025 Tennessee Medical Ethics Defense Act is leading to unethical healthcare
By Brianne Helfrich and Joseph Bertino
Not all lifestyles or beliefs align perfectly, but in a healthcare system that ought to prioritize just practices, moral or spiritual objections should never impede a patient’s access to necessary care. Across the United
In the best interests of the child – reporting restrictions in serious medical treatment cases
By Helen Turnham and Dominic Wilkinson
Following the release of the judgment in Abbasi and Haastrup [2023] EWCA Civ 331 Abbasi and another (Respondents) v Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Appellant); Haastrup (Respondent) v King’s College Hospital NHS
The New Gatekeepers: the role of the UK High Court in the oversight of medical assistance in dying
By Sean R. Riley
After decades of unsuccessful attempts by advocates, in November 2024, the United Kingdom House of Commons passed a second reading of a bill permitting medical assistance-in-dying (MAiD). The bill still faces a long legislative road
Could a potential cure for morning sickness actually lead to more discrimination for pregnant women?
By Frances Hand.
Scientific research has recently been published which explains why almost 80% of women experience morning sickness during pregnancy. This study revealed a causal link between foetal production of the hormone GDF15 and nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.