If you’ve been online over the past few days it is likely you’ll have heard about the leaked majority draft from SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) which suggests that landmark case Roe v Wade may about to be overturned. This news comes from Politico, a political news company based in the USA.

If you are interested in the outcome of this draft, you may be interested in finding reputable sources for American legal information. Fortunately we have access to several.

• We’ve created a video on International legal resources available through the University Library (8 mins 30 secs). You can find information about how to access Westlaw US and Westlaw International at around the 5 minute mark.
• Just like the Supreme Courts of Scotland and the UK Supreme Court, decisions from SCOTUS are published on their website – the latest on their front page, or searchable decisions can be accessed through ‘Opinions’ on the navigational bar.
• To find out more about the difference between federal and state laws, the US Courts website has useful information.
• Previously we’ve blogged about the Scottish Feminist Judgments Project based at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Warwick (book available via DiscoverEd), but did you know there was a US Feminist Judgments Project too, which resulted in a book related to their findings including a chapter dedicated to Roe v Wade? You can access the book via DiscoverEd:
  Feminist judgments: rewritten opinions of the United States Supreme Court
• For information about abortion laws in the UK and Ireland you may be interested in this article from the BBC, which outlines changes in Northern Ireland after the decriminalisation of abortion in October 2019.

In the UK the Act to amend and clarify the law relating to termination of pregnancy by registered medical practitioners came into force in 1967. It is referred to as The Abortion Act 1967, and the full text can be viewed on Westlaw.

Don’t forget that when viewing legislation on Westlaw it is possible to view amendments and previous versions of Acts by using the navigational tools. In the below image you can see where to locate information about previous versions of this section. By clicking on each hyperlinked version title you will see the text of the Act as it was when each version was in force.

If you have any questions about finding legislation or reputable law sources for your research you can contact us on law.librarian@ed.ac.uk at any time to arrange an appointment with one of us. We’d love to hear about your research and help you find academic resources for your work.

May 5, 2022