Counselling and pain relief could be included in abortion law

Wednesday 17 June 2020

Campaigners aiming to preserve 'Life for Both' a mother and her unborn child are hoping deputies won't allow Guernsey to copy the UK's "archaic" abortion regulations, by supporting calls for a longer consultation period on the proposed changes, or a number of amendments which could vary the suggested new law.

If the Sursis Motive lodged by Deputies Jane Stephens and Jonathan Le Tocq is supported by the majority of States members today, the Committee for Health and Social Care will have to consult the public again on their proposals.

That "broader and more inclusive" public consultation on the modernisation of the law, would then be used to inform the debate which Deputies Le Tocq and Stephens would like to be held next year instead of this week.

If the Sursis isn't backed by the States, a number of amendments have also been placed against the proposed changes which could mean the woman has to be offered counselling before and after an abortion, pain relief would be given to the foetus if past 18-weeks, and the limit for an abortion would be reduced from the proposed 24 weeks to 22 or 16 weeks. 

The Sursis and amendments can be read HERE. 

Pictured: Deputies Jonathan Le Tocq and Jane Stephens.

Maria O'Brien is one member of a group which has rebranded itself as 'Life for Both' after experiencing a back lash from pro-choice campaigners.

She said they think modelling a new law for Guernsey on the UK's legislation is the wrong thing to do.

Mrs O'Brien said the debate should be delayed so that a public presentation, which was due to be held in March can go ahead now lockdown is over and to ensure everyone who does want to have their say is able to.

"Just before lockdown there was a public meeting that was planned with Professor Dame Lesley Regan, who is a pro-abortion campaigner in the UK, so that would have been yes a public meeting, but not an impartial public meeting, it was a very skewed to one side. Then of course the global viral pandemic hit and we all went into lockdown so while the policy letter was published three months ago, rightly so the world and Guernsey were focusing on surviving this lockdown and preserving life, which of course was the most important thing. So, just as lockdown is beginning to lift now and people are emerging and trying to get back to normal and trying to restart the economy and get back to their jobs and get the schools reopened and all those things that are actually working here really well, the States are now trying to push through these amendments."

Pictured: Maria O'Brien, of the pro-life campaign group 'Life for Both'.

Among the proposed changes to the 1997 Abortion Law are three specific policies:

• Increasing Guernsey's gestational limits in line with those in England. If agreed, this means there will be no upper limit on when a pregnancy can be ended if a significant abnormality is detected, while the threshold for aborting pregnancies which put the mother's physical or mental health at risk will be increased from 12 weeks to 24.
• Removing the requirement for two medical professionals to certify an abortion. Currently, in both Guernsey and England, a woman who wishes to end her pregnancy must be signed off my two doctors before seeing a gynaecologist, but many national bodies are calling for this to change. No other procedures in the island require this level of certification.
• Removing criminal sanctions relating to a woman attempting to end her own pregnancy. At the moment, any woman who tries to abort her pregnancy herself - for example, by buying medication online - can be convicted and could be given up to a life sentence in prison.

On average, around 111 abortions are performed in Guernsey each year, while a further eight island residents travel to England or Wales for the procedure.

In 2019, national statistics show there were 209,514 abortion in England and Wales in 2019 of which 207,384 were to residents of those two countries. This is reported to be the highest number of abortions carried out in one year in England and Wales since records began.

Available data also shows that 656 abortions were because the foetus had Downs’ Syndrome and 17 abortions were confirmed to have been carried out because the foetus had cleft lip and/or cleft palate.

183 abortions were because the urinary system was malformed, 118 were because the foetus had spina bifida, three were because the genital organs were malformed and 12 were because the foetus had cystic fibrosis. 

Mrs O'Brien said by changing Guernsey's 1997 law to match the UK's law - which was established in 1967 - it would actually make our law more "archaic" by not making allowances for the progressions in medical services which have taken place over the last twenty years, or the last fifty years.

"The States are calling this a modernisation, I think we would challenge that and say it's actually not a modernisation as it's not taking into account any modern research in viability, it's not taking into account any current legal challenges on disability discrimination in the abortion laws of other jurisdictions. It's not taking into account the remarkable work that's been achieved in foetal surgery in the womb and obstetric care and of course in neonatal care, so to extend the limit of the gestational age at which a child can be aborted is very backward looking.

"They're looking to the UK's abortion law which is 50 years old, so arguably it's a very archaic abortion law, so to suggest this is a modernisation is actually incorrect, it's a far more permissive and liberal extension of what there currently is in Guernsey, and we would argue uneccesary."

The debate on Guernsey's abortion law is expected to begin on Wednesday. 

Further information on the law and how it could change can be found here.