Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the ability of non-registered medical professionals to gauge mental or physical health risks posed by a pregnancy for the purpose of judging whether or not the criteria of the Abortion Act 1967 are met.

The Abortion Act 1967 sets out that two doctors must certify that in their opinion, which must be formed in good faith, a request for an abortion meets at least one (and the same) of the grounds set out in the Act.

The Department's view that registered medical practitioners should be able to show how they have considered the particular facts of a case when forming their opinion, for example by making notes in the patient record. They should be able to defend how their decision was reached if asked to justify it at a later date.