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UK government to permit elective abortion in N Ireland up to 12 weeks

March 26, 2020 CNA Daily News 0

CNA Staff, Mar 26, 2020 / 01:01 pm (CNA).- The British government has published its legal framework for abortion services in Northern Ireland, which will come into force March 31. It allows for elective abortions up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.

“Our guiding principles for this framework are to uphold the protection of women and girls, the promotion of their health and safety, and the provision of clarity and certainty for the healthcare profession, while being responsive and sensitive to the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly being back up and running,” read a foreward to the framework written by Robin Walker, Minister of State for Northern Ireland.

The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 also allow abortions up to 24 weeks “in cases where the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or girl, greater than the risk of terminating the pregnancy.”

Abortion access will be permitted with no time limit in cases of severe fetal impairment and fatal fetal abnormalities, i.e. when “there is a substantial risk that the condition of the fetus is such that the death of the fetus is likely before, during or shortly after birth; or if the child were born, it would suffer from such physical or mental impairment as to be seriously disabled,” and when “there is a risk to the life of the woman or girl, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, or where necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or girl, including in cases of immediate necessity.”

Doctors, registered nurses, and registered midwives will be allowed to perform abortions. They will be able to do so at General Practitioners premises, and Health and Social Care clinics and hospitals. The Northern Ireland Health Minister will be able to approve further locations for medical abortions.

In elective abortions or in cases of immediate necessity where there is a risk to the life of the mother, only one medical professional is needed to certify that there are lawful grounds for abortion. For abortion on other grounds, two medical professionals must make the certification.

In England, Wales, and Scotland, two medical professionals must certify in all cases that there were lawful grounds for abortion. While consulting on the framework, the government noted that only one doctor’s certification might be appropriate in Northern Ireland, “as it is likely that there will be a more significant number of people raising conscientious objections than in other parts of the UK. This could create practical difficulties, in particular delays in women accessing termination services, if two medical professionals … are required to certify the grounds for an abortion.”

Northern Ireland’s conscientious objection provisions will mirror those of the Abortion Act 1967, which legalized abortion in England, Wales, and Scotland. Under the provisions, “no person shall be under any duty, whether by contract or by any statutory or other legal requirement, to participate in any treatment authorised by the Regulations to which the person has a conscientious objection. The only exception will be where the participation in treatment is necessary to save the life or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of a pregnant woman or girl.”

Conscientious objection will not be extended to “ancillary, administrative and managerial tasks that might be associated” with abortions.

The government wrote that “broadening the scope ‘beyond the participation in treatment’ would have consequences on a practical level and would therefore undermine the effective provision of abortion services in Northern Ireland. For example, fewer people providing ancillary services in relation to abortion could result in fewer appointments and longer waiting times, creating de facto barriers to access, and almost certainly adversely impacting the quality of care and standard of services. The Government is satisfied that the current scope of the conscientious objection provision in the Abortion Act 1967 works satisfactorily in practice, is human rights compliant, and is therefore appropriate to apply in Northern Ireland to the provision of abortion services.

Performing an illegal abortion will be a criminal offense punishable with a fine of up to GBP 5,000 ($6,070), and intentional failure to comply with certification and notification will be punishable with a fine of up to GBP 2,500 ($3,035). These will not apply to the mother, or anyone acting in good faith to save the mother’s life or to prevent grave permanent injurty to her health.

Buffer zones will not be set up around locations where abortions are procured, barring protest in the locations’ immediate vicinity. The government has decided to wait and see what the situation will be, keeping the matter under review so it can “respond to any challenges as needed at the time.”

The new framework was adopted to implement to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, which decriminalized abortion in Northern Ireland and placed a moratorium on abortion-related criminal prosecutions, and obliged the UK government to create legal access to abortion in the region by March 31.

It was passed while the Northern Ireland Assembly was suspended, though the legislature resumed meeting in January.

Prior to the NI EF Act abortion was legally permitted in the region only if the mother’s life was at risk or if there was risk of long term or permanent, serious damage to her mental or physical health.

Walker wrote in his foreword that despite the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly, “the Government remains under a legal duty under section 9 of NI EF Act, and that the government “understands the strength of feeling on this issue and we have always been clear that the best way of bringing forward reform in this area would have been for the Executive and Assembly to take this forward, in the best interests of Northern Ireland.”

The framework was adopted following a consultation in November and December 2019 which asked 15 questions regarding particularities of how legal abortion provision should be made in Northern Ireland. The consultation was based on a proposed framework.

More than 21,200 responses to the consultation were received. Of the responses, 79% “expressed a view registering their general opposition to any abortion provision in Northern Ireland beyond that which is currently permitted.”

“The Government appreciates the wide range of consultation responses received and we are extremely thankful to all individuals and organisations who took the time to respond,” Walker wrote. “We also recognise that there are a wide range views on these sensitive policy issues, which we have carefully considered and sought to ensure are appropriately reflected in the Government’s response to the consultation.”

He said that “in considering the consultation responses, we have sought to balance the range of views against our legal obligations, and taken pragmatic decisions informed by evidence, in order to bring forward a new legislative framework that will be operationally sound, that works best for Northern Ireland and that delivers on the Government’s duty.”

The government said it “particularly reflected” on the consultations provided by “respondents with experience or expertise in terms of operational workability and proper access to services on the ground in Northern Ireland.”

The adopted framework closely mirrors the proposed framework.

The 12 week limit for elective abortions was adopted “to allow access for victims of sexual crime (i.e. rape and incest)” and because, the government said, “introducing a framework which creates barriers to access is unlikely to reduce the rate of terminations, but would rather be likely to lead to women buying abortion pills online, unlawfully, with attendant health risks, rather than accessing safe services.”

Many of the provisions were adopted to be in line with existing law in England, Wales, and Scotland.

Carla Lockhart, a newly-elected MP for a Northern Irish constituency who is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party, said the adopted framework “ignores the devolution settlement and the overwhelming viewpoint of the Northern Ireland people.”

Northern Ireland rejected the Abortion Act 1967, and bills to legalize abortion in cases of fatal fetal abnormality, rape, or incest failed in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016.

The amendment to the NI EF Act obliging the government to provide for legal abortion in Northern Ireland was introduced by Stella Creasy, a Labour MP who represents a London constituency.

In October 2019, the High Court in Belfast had ruled that the region’s ban on the abortion of unborn children with fatal abnormalities violated the UK’s human rights commitments.

Northern Irish women have been able to procure free National Health Service abortions in England, Scotland, and Wales since November 2017.

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UK groups push for ’emergency contraception’ expansion amid coronavirus outbreak

March 25, 2020 CNA Daily News 2

CNA Staff, Mar 25, 2020 / 06:19 pm (CNA).- While the U.K. government has quickly backed away from rules allowing women to complete a medical abortion at home during the coronavirus pandemic, some groups are lobbying to expand legal access to emergency contraception, which can have abortion-causing effects.

The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has said consultations for emergency contraception should take place by telephone or video. The drugs are sometimes informally known as the “morning after pill.”

They advise the same consultation practices for contraception prescriptions and for counseling for intrauterine contraceptives and contraceptive implants, the Scottish newspaper The National reports. The faculty, which sets standards in family planning, has also advocated that online contraceptive services be expanded around the U.K.

Catholic ethics reject the use of the “morning after pill” to avoid conception following consensual sexual relations, and strongly reject the use of drugs that can kill any newly conceived embryo.

Dr. Anne Lashford, vice president of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, said doctors, nurses, and other clinicians in her specialty are being redeployed to help respond to the coronavirus outbreak. She said sexual and reproductive healthcare services were “already operating beyond capacity.”

“It is crucial that we ensure women of all ages can continue to access effective contraception during the crisis, avoiding unplanned pregnancies which will likely lead to added strain on both maternity and abortion services,” Lashford said.

Pro-abortion rights advocates have argued for looser abortion restrictions during the pandemic. Otherwise women “may resort to illegal methods or be compelled to carry unwanted pregnancies to term,” a spokeswoman for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service said.

The U.K.’s Department for Health initially made changes to England’s abortion laws that would have allowed women to complete a chemical abortion at home, without going to a hospital or clinic first. The changes were retracted March 24 just hours after they were published.

British Members of Parliament questioned Health Secretary Matt Hancock in the House of Commons March 25 about the changes.

Hancock reiterated that the government has no plans to change abortion regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has issued lock down orders for the U.K. with strict social distancing measures enforced.

A medical abortion, sometimes called a chemical abortion, is a two-step process that involves the ingestion of two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. The first drug, mifepristone, effectively starves the unborn baby by blocking the effects of the progesterone hormone, inducing a miscarriage. The second drug, misoprostol, is taken up to two days later and induces labor.

Women in the U.K. are already allowed to take the second drug at home, after taking the first at a medical clinic and after obtaining the approval of two doctors, as required by law.

The retracted changes would have allowed women to take both pills at home after consulting with a doctor via video link or by phone.

John Smeaton, Chief Executive of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children UK, said the proposed policy was “radical and most disturbing” and would have “placed more women at risk.”

“The removal of any direct medical supervision overseeing the use of both abortion pills could have seen a rise of physical and physiological complications experienced by women.”

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children UK, a pro-life group, has launched a national and international campaign calling for abortions to be halted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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News Briefs

French church bells ring in show of solidarity during coronavirus pandemic

March 25, 2020 CNA Daily News 1

CNA Staff, Mar 25, 2020 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- Church bells rang simultaneously across France at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night, in a show of national unity amidst the COVID-19 outbreak and in commemoration of the Feast of the Annunciation. 

Archbishop of Paris Michel Aupetit said that the ringing of the church bells shows “that there is a communion between the people whom the message of the Gospel invites us to build,” in an interview published in the French magazine Le Parisien on Tuesday. 

Wednesday’s Feast of the Annunciation marks the Church’s celebration of the Archangel Gabriel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary that she would be the mother of Christ. In France, it also marked the ninth day of a national lockdown to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“In difficult times, it is the means to achieve unity, the unanimity of our country. Joy still lives in our hearts,” said Aupetit. 

Since the first confirmed case of coronavirus in France in January, there have been more than 25,000 additional cases, and over 1,300 deaths from the virus. 

On Twitter, the Archbishop of Paris encouraged Catholics and all French people to light a candle as a show of solidarity while the church bells were ringing. 

Many people posted videos of the bells ringing in their local villages. 

 

Church bells ringing in my village, as all over France «non pour appeler les fidèles à s’y rendre, mais pour manifester notre fraternité et notre espoir commun» pic.twitter.com/0kje2bNEgr

— Craig Drake (@csdrake) March 25, 2020

 

 

“Church bells ringing in my village, as all over France, ‘not to call the faithful to go there, but to show our fraternity and our common hope,’” tweeted Craig Drake. Dioceses in France suspended public Masses earlier this month, as mirroring similar restrictions in Italy, Spain, and the United States. 

 

#Églises #COVID2019
Sonnez, sonnez, cloches de nos clochers, cloches de nos églises de France!
Sonnez !
Et que la prochaine fois marque la fin de cette terrible pandémie! pic.twitter.com/gwNHzHqNVT

— Philippe GOSSELIN (@phgosselin) March 25, 2020

 

 

“Ring, ring, bells from our steeples, bells from our churches in France! Ring! And the next time, it will mark the end of this terrible pandemic!” tweeted Philippe Gosselin from the town of Saint-Lô in Manche. 

Churches of other denominations joined the Catholic churches in ringing their bells on Wednesday. A video taken by Stephen Brown shows the bells tolling at a Lutheran church in Courbevoie, near Paris. 

 

Church bells ring in France at 19:30 to support all those with Covid19 and those looking after them – in the background the local hospital pic.twitter.com/kHuv1Olpca

— Stephen Brown (@stephengbrown) March 25, 2020

 

 

In his interview with Le Parisien, Aupetit expressed hope that the suspension of Masses may lead to a renewed desire for faith among the French people. 

“When you are thirsty, you become more and more thirsty. And when water is given to us, we drink in abundance. We are currently weaned from this communion, so I hope that we will live it more intensely when the epidemic is over,” he said. 

Aupetit, who worked as a doctor for two decades before entering the priesthood, said that he is volunteering to treat the sick, and that fear of the virus was not a deterrent for him. 

“I even think I caught it,” he said, noting that about two weeks ago, he lost his sense of smell, which was a symptom of the novel coronavirus. 

“Fear does not prevent death, nor disease. The one who is afraid is unable to fight the virus,” he said. 

“In a situation of distress, you have to arm yourself to be able to face it. And if it’s my hour, it’s the one God chose.”

Aupetit also preached a message of hope in his interview, saying that Christian hope is one of the things that can come from something evil, especially in this season of Lent and preparation for Easter.

“We can imagine more fraternity, delicacy, civility, a different look on others and those who do not think like us. We are not quite in the worst with this virus, it can still get worse. But now is not the time to let go,” he said. 

“You have to be standing in hope. When Christ is crucified, we tell ourselves that everything is finished. Three days later, we celebrate his resurrection. The last word is not to death, but to life.” 

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