Welsh Health Minister promotes home abortions
from SPUC:
Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has said that the abortion pill should be authorised for home use.
Speaking in the Welsh Assembly on Tuesday, Mr Gething told members: “I have instructed officials to start work immediately on how we can amend the legal framework to allow for the treatment of the termination of pregnancy to be carried out at home.”
He added: “My officials will now work with stakeholders to develop a fully-costed and timetabled implementation plan.”
Not in keeping with the law
It is unclear what Mr Gething meant by “amend the legal framework”, as Wales is subject to the 1967 Abortion Act, and so any amendment would need to be done in the Westminster Parliament. In Scotland, the Government claimed that it did not need to change the law to designate the home as a place where abortion could take place, although this is currently being challenged by a judicial review brought by SPUC Scotland.
The key grounds for SPUC’s legal challenge are firstly,that the home is not an approved place for abortions to take place under the Abortion Act, and secondly, that it demands the presence of medical, nursing or clinical staff during a procedure.
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