Asked by: Baroness O'Loan (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that abortion providers verify that a woman is not being coerced into an abortion before she is sent abortion pills to be taken at home.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Abortion providers are required to have effective arrangements in place to safeguard children and vulnerable adults, in compliance with the Department’s required standard operating procedures for the approval of independent sector places for termination of pregnancy in England. Providers must ensure that all staff are trained in recognising the signs of potential abuse and coercion in adult women, and how to respond.
In addition, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has published national safeguarding guidance for under 18-year-olds accessing early medical abortion services, which will ensure that robust safeguarding processes are embedded across all abortion services. We expect all providers to have due regard to the RCPCH safeguarding guidance.
Asked by: Baroness O'Loan (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Home Office on 6 July (HC Deb, col 717), when their public consultation on the use of both sets of abortion pills at home will commence; and how long the consultation will last.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government has committed to undertake a public consultation on making permanent the COVID-19 measure allowing for home use of both pills for early medical abortion up to 10 weeks gestation for all eligible women. The current COVID-19 measure will be kept in place until the public consultation concludes and a decision has been made. Work to develop the consultation will begin soon and further details will be available in due course, but the consultation will be completed and a Government response published, before the end date of the temporary order.
Asked by: Baroness O'Loan (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what precautions they are taking to ensure that the public consultation on 'at home' abortions does not extend beyond the end date of the temporary order.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Government has committed to undertake a public consultation on making permanent the COVID-19 measure allowing for home use of both pills for early medical abortion up to 10 weeks gestation for all eligible women. The current COVID-19 measure will be kept in place until the public consultation concludes and a decision has been made. Work to develop the consultation will begin soon and further details will be available in due course, but the consultation will be completed and a Government response published, before the end date of the temporary order.
Asked by: Baroness O'Loan (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many at-home abortions beyond 9 weeks and 6 days have been reported; and what was the gestational age of each, since the temporary order to allow them commenced.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department will be publishing an additional official statistics release of abortion data covering the COVID-19 period from January to June 2020 on 10 September. The Code of Practice outlined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 prohibits the pre-release of official statistics before the due date of publication.
Asked by: Baroness O'Loan (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether women in Northern Ireland considering an abortion between 22 October 2019 and 31 March 2020 will be offered counselling equivalent to that offered to women in England and Wales.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Northern Ireland Executive was not restored by 21 October 2019, so section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 has now come into force, providing for the decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland in relation to sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. The United Kingdom Government is now under a duty to bring forward regulations to introduce a new legal framework for abortion in Northern Ireland by 31 March 2020 and has published guidance for healthcare professionals in Northern Ireland on abortion law for the period 22 October 2019 to 31 March 2020. This makes clear that abortion services are not expected to be routinely available in Northern Ireland before 31 March 2020.
The UK Government-funded Central Booking System (CBS) has been in operation since March 2018 as a single point of contact for women in Northern Ireland to access abortion care in England. The CBS, and abortion care provided under the scheme, will continue to offer the same service and care package to women from Northern Ireland between 22 October 2019 and 31 March 2020. During this period women from Northern Ireland will be able to have all travel and, where needed, accommodation paid for without any means testing. The package of care offered to women from Northern Ireland is equivalent to the package of care offered to women from England and includes a consultation including impartial information/advice, and where needed, counselling with an abortion provider in England.