Publication

The legislative gap between sexual consent and medical consent and how that affects access to emergency hormonal contraception in Ireland

Kenny, Shauna
Citation
Kenny, Shauna. (2023). The legislative gap between sexual consent and medical consent and how that affects access to emergency hormonal contraception in Ireland. University of Galway Law Review, 2.
Abstract
The battle to achieve equality in access to medical resources for women is an endless cycle of struggles and disputes. The debate surrounding the use of emergency hormonal contraceptives is a particularly intricate, complicated, problematic topic that lingers in our community. The intricacies and difficulties for women and teenage girls in obtaining emergency hormonal contraceptives, a struggle which is emerging from the current legislation on medical consent and sexual consent will be examined. Viewing the legislation from a pragmatic point of view, it is extremely difficult to pinpoint any faults. However, when pragmatic legislation is applied to real-world everyday situations, it becomes evident that there is a significant amount of ambiguity regarding its application. This inquiry strives to highlight the imposing issue of the legislative gap between sexual consent and medical consent and how that affects access to emergency hormonal contraceptives for young women in Ireland, in particular adolescent women who require contraceptive services. 1
Funder
Publisher
University of Galway
Publisher DOI
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International