Abortion Law Review Expert Group: terms of reference

Strategic context

The former First Minister committed to exploring a review of the law on abortion in Scotland. In response to a letter by a collective of reproductive rights groups, the former First Minister agreed to set up an expert group that would consider the existing law, along with a range of stakeholder views and evidence to help advise the Scottish Government, before moving towards a public consultation if changes to the law are to be proposed.

Subsequently, the Programme for Government 2023-2024 committed to undertake a review of abortion law to identify potential proposals, by the end of the parliamentary term (i.e. May 2026), for reforms to ensure that abortion services are first and foremost a healthcare matter.

Purpose

The purpose of this expert group (“the group”) is to review the current law on abortion and to provide Scottish ministers with recommendations on whether or not aspects of the existing law should be changed and, if so, advise on potential legislative changes and, if applicable, any other changes needed to support that. 

Remit

To achieve this purpose, the remit of the group is to:

• provide an assessment of the current legal framework on abortion and what areas (if any) should remain, change or be adapted.
  • the group can make whatever recommendations it feels are appropriate or set out options where it feels unable to provide a clear or agreed recommendation. However, the Scottish ministers have made clear that they wish to ensure that patients in Scotland can continue to access abortions and also that they would wish to ensure that abortion services are first and foremost a healthcare matter, similar to other equivalent health services. Therefore, they would be keen to ensure their proposals achieve that as far as possible, but will of course consider the group’s advice
• if on assessment of the current legal framework the broup agrees that it should change or be adapted, the group will provide recommendations for reform, in relation to, but not limited to the following aspects:
  • gestational limits and grounds for abortions currently coming under ‘Ground C’ (risk to injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman (up to 24 weeks in the pregnancy))
  • gestational limits and grounds for more complex abortion cases (e.g. danger to life of pregnant person, fetal anomaly, or where the pregnant patient is brain-stem dead or withdrawal of life sustaining treatment is being considered)
  • offences and other forms of regulation
  • conscientious objection
  • data and reporting
  • oversight of abortion providers (NHS and/or private providers) and, where relevant, oversight of pathways for providing abortions (such as where abortions can take place)

Ways of working

Expertise will be used within the group, but also evidence from a number of sources where appropriate will be considered by the group to provide recommendations and guidance to the Scottish ministers.

The group and secretariat will engage with key stakeholders interested in abortion provision in Scotland or others with a particular expertise or perspective on elements of the review, as appropriate, including an advisory group of reproductive rights organisations or other relevant clinical groups.

Timing and review

The group will meet around once per month, for six to nine months. The group may meet more frequently, during this timeline, as agreed by the group and secretariat. Any matter which needs to be decided on outwith the schedule of meetings may be dealt with by email correspondence.

The group will consider the following topics:

• gestational limits
• grounds for abortion
• conscientious objection
• data and reporting
• oversight of providers
• offences and regulations

The above list of topics is not exhaustive and the group can discuss additional topics where appropriate. The group will agree the order of topics to be discussed during the first meeting. The group will have the flexibility to revisit topics should they wish to.

The length of meetings will be determined by the Chair and the secretariat, depending on the subject matter being discussed.

The group’s programme of work will continue until all areas within the scope of the review have been considered and recommendations or agreed options can be provided.

These terms of reference will be agreed by the group and reviewed as needed. Any proposed changes must be approved by a majority of the group members, the secretariat and (if the changes are significant) the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health.

Secretariat

The Scottish Government will act as the secretariat for the group, providing administrative support including agendas and minutes, coordinating meetings, and ensuring effective communication among group members and stakeholder groups. The secretariat will also assist the chair in preparing draft recommendations or options for the group to consider once it has agreed its views on a particular topic.

Membership

Members of the group are expected to have expertise in relevant fields, including but not limited to clinical, legal, ethical, and patient perspectives aspects of abortion. Some members will be representing an organisation that they work for, and some will be representing in a personal capacity.

See the proposed core membership of the expert group.

Accountability, governance and support

The group is not established on a statutory basis. It is therefore not subject to the formal public appointments process and the requirements of the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland. Members are appointed by the Scottish ministers, taking into account the views of the Chair and existing members.

Governance structure

The roles and structure for the governance of the expert group are outlined below.

Scottish ministers

Commission the review and consider its findings before consulting on proposals for reform.

Review secretariat

The Scottish Government Abortion Policy Team liaise with both groups and stakeholders and feed their views to ministers.

Expert group

The expert group is chaired by Professor Anna Glasier, Women’s Health Champion.

It consists of a core membership of a small group of academic, clinical, legal and patient focussed abortion experts (advisory group), plus some input from other relevant experts on particular topics.

Advisory group

The advisory group is chaired by Jill Wood, who represents them on the expert group. The advisory group consists of key women’s and reproductive rights groups as well as other interested clinical groups, which help advise the expert group on patient perspectives and feed in advice for ministers on particular topics.

Other interested stakeholders

The Secretariat will give other stakeholders the opportunity to feed in views to the expert group in advance of the meeting discussing the relevant issues. This can include meeting with the interested stakeholders and inviting them to submit written views to the expert group via the secretariat.

Participation in the group will not be remunerated. Any expenses such as travel and subsistence will be paid at normal Scottish Government rates, unless this is already covered by attendees’ regular working arrangements. 

Meetings will primarily take place online through Microsoft Teams. If the group wishes to meet in person, a Scottish Government venue may be used, subject to availability and approval.

Responsibilities

Members are expected to:

• actively participate in discussions and contribute their expertise
• review and analyse relevant information and research, including any background information circulated in papers prior to meetings (the secretariat will aim to circulate papers at least three working days before each meeting, although this may not always be possible)
• develop and present recommendations for the Scottish ministers

Conduct

Members are expected to:

• be respectful of all views and opinions expressed within the group
• remain objective in their analysis and discussions
• maintain the confidentiality of individual views expressed within the group, unless explicit permission has been granted for disclosure

Underpinning principles

Group members are expected to adhere to the Seven Principles of Public Life (also known as the Nolan Principles):

• selflessness
• integrity
• objectivity
• accountability
• openness
• honesty
• leadership

Reporting

The group will provide Scottish ministers with a final report (as above the secretariat can assist with administration), outlining their findings and recommendations. The report is expected to be made publicly available, subject to any necessary redactions to protect individual privacy and confidentiality. The findings and recommendations reports should be approved by a majority of the group members before submission.

Confidentiality and conflict of interest

Members are required to declare any potential conflicts of interest. If a member has a direct or indirect interest in a matter being discussed, they should declare this at the start of the meeting and may be asked to leave the meeting during the relevant discussion if the Chair feels that is appropriate.

All discussions, documents, and other information shared within the group are considered confidential and should not be shared outside the group without permission from the secretariat or the Chair, except where the information is already publicly available (e.g. published research or data).

Communications and information sharing

The group itself will not be subject to Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation and will not be required to respond to FOI requests.

However, any papers provided to the group by the Secretariat or from the group to Scottish Government ministers or officials will be subject to the usual FOI requirements if requested.

The group membership is required to delete electronic or dispose of physical documents securely after the work of the group has ended.

The Scottish Government Secretariat will keep the group's records in a separate electronic file with restricted access. If there is an FOI request for the group’s papers or any correspondence, the group would be consulted before any information is disclosed. Depending on the request for information, the Scottish Government may not be able to prevent the disclosure of information.

While much of the information and papers shared with group members will be able to be shared with relevant colleagues and other stakeholders, such as the advisory group, there may sometimes be papers intended for viewing by group members only. If a paper is marked ‘Official Sensitive’ it should not be shared with colleagues or third parties, either in hard copy or electronically, and its content should not be discussed outwith the group except with agreement from the Chair or the secretariat. 

Dissolution of the group

The group will be dissolved once its final report has been submitted to the Scottish ministers. Any decision to extend the work of the group beyond this point will be at the discretion of the Scottish Government.