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About
Professor Emily Jackson, first joined the LSE in 1998. After graduating from Oxford University, she worked as a research officer at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies in Oxford. Her first teaching position was at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, and she has also taught at Birkbeck College and Queen Mary, University of London. Emily’s research interests are in the field of medical law. She has served as a member of the British Medical Association Medical Ethics Committee (2005-2022), Deputy Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (2008-2012) and a Judicial Appointments Commissioner (2014-2017). She is a Fellow of the British Academy, and in 2017 was awarded an OBE for services to higher education.
Administrative support: Law.Reception@lse.ac.uk
Research
Research Interests
Emily’s research interests are in the field of medical law and ethics, with particular emphasis upon reproductive issues, end of life decision-making and the regulation of the pharmaceutical industry.
Publications
The 14 Day Rule and Human Embryo Research: A Sociology of Biological Translation (Routledge, 2024) (with Sarah Franklin)
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Medical Law : Text, Cases and Materials (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022) 6th edition
Medical Law : Text, Cases, and Materials offers all of the explanation, commentary, and extracts from cases and key materials that students need to gain a thorough understanding of this complex topic.
Medical Law was awarded first prize in the British Medical Association's ‘Basis of Medicine’ Book Awards, 2017.
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Law and the Regulation of Medicines (Hart 2012)
The principal purpose of this book is to tell the story of a medicine's journey through the regulatory system in the UK, from defining what counts as a medicine, through clinical trials, licensing, pharmacovigilance, marketing and funding. The question of global access to medicines is addressed because of its political importance, and because it offers a particularly stark illustration of the consequences of classifying medicines as a private rather than a public good. Two further specific challenges to the future of medicine's regulation are examined separately: first, pharmacogenetics, or the genetic targeting of medicines to subgroups of patients, and second, the possibility of using medicines to enhance well-being or performance, rather than treat disease. Throughout, the emphasis is on the role of regulation in shaping and influencing the operation of the medicines industry, an issue that is of central importance to the promotion of public health and the fair and equitable distribution of healthcare resources.
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Debating Euthanasia (Hart 2011) (with John Keown)
In this new addition to the Debating Law series, Emily Jackson and John Keown re-examine the legal and ethical parameters of the debate about euthanasia and assisted-dying. Emily Jackson argues that we owe it to everyone in society to do all that we can to ensure that they experience a 'good death'. For a small minority of patients who experience intolerable and unrelievable suffering, this may mean helping them to have an assisted death. In a liberal society, where people's moral views differ, we should not force individuals to experience deaths they find intolerable. This is not an argument in favour of dying. On the contrary, Jackson argues that legalisation could extend and enhance the lives of people whose present fear of the dying process causes them overwhelming distress. John Keown argues that voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are gravely unethical and he defends their continued prohibition by law. He analyses the main arguments for relaxation of the law - including those which invoke the experience of jurisdictions which permit these practices - and finds them wanting. Relaxing the law would, he concludes, be both wrong in principle and dangerous in practice, not least for the dying, the disabled and the disadvantaged.
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Regulating Autonomy: Sex, Reproduction and the Family - co-editor, with Fatemeh Ebtehaj, Martin Richards and Shelley Day Sclater (Hart 2009)
These essays explore the nature and limits of individual autonomy in law, policy and the work of regulatory agencies. Authors ask searching questions about the nature and scope of the regulation of 'private' lives, from intimacies, personal relationships and domestic lives to reproduction. They question the extent to which the law does, or should, protect individual autonomy. Recent rapid advances in the development of new technologies - particularly those concerned with human genetics and assisted reproduction - have generated new questions (practical, social, legal and ethical) about how far the state should intervene in individual decision making. Is there an inevitable tension between individual liberty and the common good? How might a workable balance between the public and the private be struck? How, indeed, should we think about 'autonomy'?
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Regulating Reproduction (Oxford: Hart Publishing 2001)
Provides a clear and accessible analysis of the various ways in which human reproduction is regulated. A comprehensive exposition of the law relating to birth control, abortion, pregnancy, childbirth, surrogacy and assisted conception is accompanied by an exploration of some of the complex ethical dilemmas that emerge when one of the most intimate areas of human life is subjected to regulatory control. Throughout the book, two principal themes recur. First, particular emphasis is placed upon the special difficulties that arise in regulating new technological intervention in all aspects of the reproductive process. Second, the concept of reproductive autonomy is both interrogated and defended. Winner of the 2002 Society of Legal Scholars’ Annual Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship by a Young Legal Scholar.
- 'Future challenges for UK regulation of brain organoid research' Medical Law Review (2025) 33 (1)
- 'Addressing the consequences of the corporatization of reproductive medicine' Medical Law Review (2024) 32 (4) 444–467 (with Sara A Attinger, Isabel Karpin, Ian Kerridge, Ainsley J Newson, Cameron Stewart, Lucy van de Wiel, Wendy Lipworth)
- 'Sex and the erasure of legal parenthood: P v Q and F (child: legal parentage)' [2024] EWCA civ 878. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 1–3
- 'Regulating embryo models in the UK' Journal of Law and the Biosciences (2024) 11 (2)
- ‘Product Liability, Medical Devices and Harm to Women’s Bodies’ in Kirsty Horsey (ed) Diverse Voices in Tort Law (Bristol University Press, 2024) 129-150
- 'Human embryo models: the importance of national policy and governance review' (2023) Current Opinion in Genetics & Development 82, 102103 (with Amy L Foreman, Kathleen Liddell, Sarah Franklin, Christina Rozeik, Kathy K Niakan)
- ‘Is the use of IVF add-on treatments driven by patients or clinics? Findings from a UK patient survey’ Human Fertility (2023) (with Cirkovic et al.)
- ‘The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 and Non-Traditional Families’ (2023) MLR (with Kirsty Horsey)
- 'Withholding and withdrawing life-prolonging treatment and the relevance of patients’ wishes: reforming the Mental Capacity Act 2005' in White, Ben P. and Willmott, Lindy, (eds.) International Perspectives on End-of-Life Law Reform: Politics, Persuasion and Persistence. Cambridge Bioethics and Law. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2021) pp.232–249
- 'Childless by circumstance – Using an online survey to explore the experiences of childless women who had wanted children'Reproductive Biomedicine and Society Online (2021) Vol.12 pp.44-55 (with Dilan Chauhan and Joyce C. Harper)
- ‘Challenging the comparison in Montgomery between patients and “consumers exercising choices"' (2021) Medical Law Review online first
- ‘Patients’ wishes and best interests: reforming section 4 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005’ in Lindy Wilmott and Ben White (eds) International Perspectives on End-of-Life Reform: Politics, Persuasion and Persistence (Cambridge UP, 2021)
- ‘The Legacy of the Warnock Report’ in Law and Legacy in Medical Jurisprudence: Essays in Honour of Graeme Laurie (Cambridge UP, 2021)
- 'In whose interests? The prohibition of assisted suicide in the UK' in Iyiola Solanke (ed) On Crime, Society and Responsibility in the work of Nicola Lacey (Oxford University Press, 2021) 171-192.
- With Jonathan Herring and Sally Sheldon, ‘Would decriminalisation of abortion mean deregulation?’ in Sally Sheldon (ed) What would it Mean to Decriminalise Abortion in the UK? The Evidence (Policy Press, 2020) 57-76
- ‘Assisted Conception and Surrogacy in the United Kingdom’ in ‘Assisted Conception and Surrogacy in the United Kingdom’ in J Eekelaar and R George (eds) Routledge Handbook of Family Law and Policy (Routledge, 2020) 187-199
- With Huseyin Naci et al ‘Generating comparative evidence on new drugs and devices before approval’ (2020) 395 The Lancet 986-997.
- With I Glenn Cohen, ‘Introduction to the Right to Procreate and Reproductive Technologies’ in Tamara Hervey and David Orentlicher (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Health Law (Oxford UP, 2020)
- With Jack Wilkinson et al, ‘Do à la carte menus serve infertility patients? The ethics and regulation of IVF add-ons’ (2019) 112 Fertility and Sterility 973-977
- ‘Afterword’ in Childbirth, Vulnerability and Law: Exploring Issues of Violence and Control, Jonathan Herring and Camilla Pickles (eds) (London, Routledge, 2019) 251-255.
- ‘Legalising assisted dying: cross purposes and unintended consequences’ (2018) 41 Dalhousie Law Journal 60-91.
- 'Too expensive to treat? Non-treatment decisions at the margins of viability' (2019) 27 Medical Law Review 461–481. (first published online 13/11/18) (with Tatiana Flessas)
- 'From "doctor knows best" to dignity: Placing adults who lack capacity at the centre of decisions about their medical treatment' (2018) Modern Law Review 81 (2) pp.247-281
- 'Adjuncts in the IVF laboratory: where is the evidence for "add-on" interventions?' (2017) 32 Human Reproduction 485-491 (with Joyce Harper et al.)
- 'Medical, legal and ethical implications of using an introduction web site to find a sperm donor' (2017) 4 Reproductive Biomedicine & Society 13-17 (with Joyce Harper, Dan Reisel and Laura Spoelstra)
- R v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority ex parte Blood Judgment 2 in Stephen W Smith et al (eds) Ethical Judgments: Rewriting Medical Law (Hart, 2017) 98-103.
- 'UK law and international commercial surrogacy: "the very antithesis of sensible"' (2016) 4 Journal of Medical Law and Ethics 197-214.
- 'The regulatory consequences of 'Brexit' for the development of medicinal products' (2017) 102 Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics 183–184 (with Alasdair Breckenridge and Peter Feldschreiber)
- 'Ethical Dilemmas in Obstetrics and Gynaecology' in K Edmunds (ed) Dewhurst’s Textbook of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 9th edition (Wiley Blackwell, 2018) 987-998.
- 'The Ambiguities of “Social” Egg Freezing and the Challenges of Informed Consent' (2018) 14 Biosocieties 21-40
- 'Learning from Cross-border Reproduction' (2017) Medical Law Review 25 (1) pp.23-46. (with Jenni Millbank, Isabel Karpin and Anita Stuhmcke.)
- 'Abortion' in Principles of Medical Law, Jean McHale and Judith Laing (eds) (Oxford UP, 2016)
- '"Social" egg freezing and the UK's statutory storage time limits' Journal of Medical Ethics (2016)
- 'A response to Saviour Siblings: A Relational Approach to the Welfare of the Child in Selective Reproduction' (2015) 41 Journal of Medical Ethics 929-30
- 'The relationship between medical law and good medical ethics' (2015) 41 Journal of Medical Ethics 41 (1): 95-98
- 'The law and DIY Assisted Conception’ in Kirsty Horsey (ed) Regulating Assisted Conception (Routledge, 2015), 31-49
- 'DIY Abortion and Harm Reduction' in G Laurie and P Ferguson (eds) Inspiring a Medico-Legal Revolution: Essays in Honour of Sheila McLean (Ashgate, 2015) 25-36
- 'Regulating Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing: the view from the UK' (2014) 50 Japanese Journal of Law and Political Science 9-19.
- 'Assisted Conception and Surrogacy in the United Kingdom' in J Eekelaar and Rob George (eds) Routledge Handbook of Family Law and Policy (Routledge, 2014) 189-200.
- ‘The Liverpool Care Pathway Review’ Elder Law Journal (2013) 3 (4) pp.402-404
- 'DIY Abortion and Harm Reduction' in G Laurie and P Ferguson (eds) Festschrift for Sheila McLean
- ‘The Minimally Conscious State and Treatment Withdrawal’ (2013) 39 Journal of Medical Ethics 559-61
- 'Compensating Egg Donors' in Sumi Madhok, Anne Phillips and Kalpana Wilson (eds) Gender, Agency and Coercion (Palgrave, 2013) 181-194.
- ‘Regulating Embryo Research: A Regulator’s Perspective’ in Mark Flear et al (eds) European Law and New Health Technologies (Oxford University Press, 2013) 275-281.
- 'Statutory regulation of PGD: unintended consequences and future challenges' in Sheila McLean Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis: A Comparative and Theoretical Analysis (Routledge, 2012) 71-88.
- ‘Criminalising the supply of tobacco’ Health Economics, Policy and Law Volume 6 / Issue 02 (2011) pp 279 - 281
- ‘Re N (A child): Commentary’ in Rosemary Hunter, Clare McGlynn and Erika Rackley (eds) Feminist Judgments: From Theory to Practice (Hart, 2010)
- ‘IVF birth data presentation: Its impact on clinical practice and patient choice’ in Martin Johnson et al (eds) Birth Rites and Rights (Hart, 2010)
- 'Top-up Payments for Expensive Cancer Drugs: Rationing, Fairness and the NHS'Modern Law Review 2010, 73(3), 399-427
- ‘Seroxat and the suppression of clinical trial data: regulatory failure and the uses of legal ambiguity' Journal of Medical Ethics 2009;35:107-112 (with L. McGoey)
- ‘If NICE was in the USA’ (2009) 374 The Lancet 272-273. (with Tim Kendall and Linsey McGoey)
- 'Degendering Reproduction' (2008) Medical Law Review 346-368
- 'The donation of eggs for research and the rise of neopaternalism' in M Freeman (ed) Law and Bioethics (Oxford UP: 2008) 499-527
- 'Secularism, Sanctity and the Wrongness of Killing' (2008) Biosocieties 125-145
- ‘Death, Euthanasia and the Medical Profession’ in M Johnson, J Herring, B Brooks-Gordon, M Richards (eds) Death Rites and Rights (Hart, 2007) 37-55
- ‘Prisoners, Their Wives and the Right to Reproduce’ (2007) Child and Family Law Quarterly 239-246
- ‘Fraudulent Stem Cell Research and Respect for the Embryo’ (2006) 1(3) Biosocieties 349-56
- ‘Informed Consent and the Impotence of Tort’ in S. McLean (ed) First Do No Harm (Aldershot, Ashgate, 2006) 273-86
- ‘Rethinking the Preconception Welfare Principle’ in K Horsey and H Biggs (eds) Human Fertilisation and Embryology: Reproducing Regulation (Routledge Cavendish, 2006) 47-67
- ‘What is a Parent’ in K O’Donovan and A Diduck (eds) Feminist Perspectives on Family Law (Routledge Cavendish, 2006) 59-74
- ‘Whose Death is it Anyway? Euthanasia and the Medical Profession’ (2004) 57 Current Legal Problems 415-442
- ‘Introducing Feminist Legal Theory’ in J Penner, D Schiff and R Nobles (eds) Introduction to jurisprudence and Legal Theory: Commentary and Materials (Butterworths, 2002) 779-853 (with Nicola Lacey)
- ‘ The Pregnant Body’ chapter in Ellie Lee and Mary Boyle (eds) Real Bodies (Palgrave, 2002) 115-132 (with Ellie Lee)
- 'Abortion: Medical Paternalism or Patient Autonomy?’ in Abortion: Whose Right? (Hodder and Stoughton, 2002) 1-15
- ‘Conception and the Irrelevance of the Welfare Principle’ (2002) 65 Modern Law Review 176-203
Teaching
Engagement and impact
REF Impact Case Study
External Activities
- Judicial Appointments Commissioner (2014-17)
- Member of Department of Health Independent Panel to review Liverpool Care Pathway (2013)
- Member of British Medical Association Medical Ethics Committee (2005-)
- Member of Medical Research Council Ethics and Public Involvement Committee (2011-)
- Member of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Ethics Committee (2012-)
- Expert Advisor to the Ethics Review procedure of the EU Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development at the European Commission (2008-)
- Health Economics, Policy and Law, Editorial Board
- Medical Law Internmational, Editorial Board
- Biosocieties, Editorial Board
- Journal of Law and Society, Advisory Board