SUMMARY OF RECENT HOUSE OF COMMONS ABORTION DEBATE - News
SUMMARY OF RECENT HOUSE OF COMMONS ABORTION DEBATE
By Richard Marsden
The government has announced that they have no plans to lower the time limit for abortions.
The statement was made at a parliamentary debate just before the summer recess by the Health Minister, Caroline Flint.
She said the Conservative government of the day in 1990 gave parliamentary time to a debate to lower the time limit from 28 weeks because there was a consensus in the medical and scientific community that the time limit should be reduced. However, she argued the circumstances were not the same now.
“Today, neither the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists nor the BMA thinks that abortion time limits need to be reviewed, which is why the Government have no plans to do so,” Ms Flint said.
“The circumstances were very different in 1990, when there was more of a consensus across the medical world that the situation needed to be addressed.”
Pro-Life Position
A pro-life perspective was presented by Jim Dobbin MP (Lab, Haywood and Middleton), Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group.
After stating his opposition to all abortion except in rare cases “in which the mother's life is in real danger”, the Scottish MP said the rights of the unborn child were most important.
“We talk about foetuses and use other technical terms, but in the end there is a baby—a child—and that must not be forgotten,” he said. “To me, a child is there.”
“The philosophical flaw in the framework is that it implies that bigger is better—that an unborn child of 24 weeks and one day is worthy of the protection of the law, whereas an unborn child of 23 weeks and six days is not. Where is the logic in that approach?”
He called for the government to increase funding of pregnancy care organisations such as the charity, LIFE, and at least for “the right to choose” to be accompanied by “the right to know”. The minister responded by stressing that “any woman considering an abortion must have all the facts, including accurate information about possible complications, so that she can make an informed choice”.
Mr Dobbin also said abortion law reform should not focus entirely on time limits and outlined four other possible legislative options.
1) Informed consent legislation – placing a legal obligation on all abortion providers to provide women considering abortion with the relevant information about the physical and psychological consequences
2) A compulsory “cooling-off” period between the decision to have an abortion and the abortion itself
3) Greater financial and practical support to women in crisis pregnancy situations
4) Introduction of parental notification laws for children
Foetal Viability
Opening the debate, Evan Harris (LD, Oxford, West and Abingdon), considered whether the law should be based on foetal viability.
“What do we mean by viability? Do we mean that the foetus is capable simply of being born alive, or surviving for a reasonable length of time or surviving through childhood with no serious disability?” he said.
Case law, in 1991, interpreted the term "viable” as capable of being born alive and the US courts have defined it as “capable of meaningful life”.
But Mr Harris said he did not think the law should deal with the question of viability but whether babies are capable of surviving at an earlier stage.
“Serious” Handicap
Several members agreed that the definition of “serious” handicap, allowing abortion up to birth in these circumstances, should be revisited by parliament. They called for the words “seriously” and “handicapped” to be defined or for legislation to explicitly state it should be up to the courts or doctors to decide on each individual case.
The minister confirmed the 1990 Act chose to leave the interpretation of handicap to the “expert judgement” of the two doctors involved who are expected to come to their own conclusion about the seriousness of the handicap the child would suffer if born.
“That approach was based on an understanding of the difficulties that arise in such circumstances and of the fact that each woman's pregnancy presents a unique situation to the doctors who have to give her the choice of a termination and set out the grounds,” said Ms Flint.
Northern Ireland
In his lengthy opening speech, Evan Davies called for legalised abortion to be extended to Northern Ireland, to the concern of pro-life groups.
Abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland except to save the life of the mother or to prevent serious damage to her physical or mental health. Many women reportedly travel to the mainland for abortions.
The Shadow health Minister, John Baron (Con, Billericay), who made it clear that his views were not those of the official opposition as a whole, also asked the government to consider extending the scope of the Abortion Act to the province.
In response, Ms Flint said she would contact her Northern Ireland ministerial colleagues and ask them to respond to the questions raised. This is clearly not a definitive answer of Yes or No and leaves the possibility of legalised abortion in the province open.
Chemical Abortions
The Health Minister welcomed calls for greater availability of chemical abortions and suggestions to allow women to have abortions at home.
“We agree that women who have grounds for an abortion should be offered the choice of an earlier medical abortion and that primary care trusts and abortion service providers should ensure that such provision exists,” Ms Flint said.
“Use of medical abortion increased from 5 per cent of abortions in 1995 to 17 per cent in 2003.”
The abortion pill or, to give it’s proper name, the RU-486 pill, can be taken as far as nine weeks into pregnancy. It usually involves two visits to a clinic, two days apart, accompanied by a check up about a week later.
Pills are taken to starve the womb of progesterone causing the lining to break down. A small tablet is then put into the vagina which softens and opens the cervix. The lining of the womb is then lost along with the developing child. Possible side effects include haemorrhage requiring a blood transfusion, severe pain, incomplete abortion, vomiting and rupture of the uterus.
Recently, the makers of RU-486 reported the deaths of five women who took the pill in four years.
BPAS
However, Ms Flint had no response to calls made by Shadow Health Minister John Baron for a report into the activities of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service to be published.
The report looked into claims that BPAS were illegally referring women to a clinic in Spain for abortions after 24 weeks which are outlawed not only in Britain but in Spain as well, except if the life of the mother is in grave danger.
It is understood the chief medical officer’s report has been finished but so far the government has refused to publish it despite pressure from some MPs.
