Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policy on abortion of research demonstrating the capacity of foetuses to react to pain.

As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance. It is accepted Parliamentary practice that proposals for changes in the law on abortion come from back-bench members and that decisions are made on the basis of free votes.

The Department does not set clinical practice in abortion services. To support clinical practice, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has published evidence based guidelines, ‘Fetal Awareness: Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice’, which can be viewed at:

https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/guidelines/fetal-awareness---review-of-research-and-recommendations-for-practice/