3. 2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:22 pm on 4 July 2017.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 2:22, 4 July 2017

Well, I’m glad Julie Morgan, the Member for Cardiff North, has also chosen to raise this again this afternoon, obviously following a question to the First Minister. I want to again repeat what the First Minister said, that we strongly support women’s right to choose to have an abortion. We are looking into the provision of abortions in Wales to women from Northern Ireland. We believe that a woman from Northern Ireland in Wales should be able to access an abortion for free, on the same basis as women in Wales, and we are exploring how that can be achieved. Of course, that does include, as the First Minister said, not just travel costs, expenses costs, but also support for that person, for that woman, who may come to Wales and use that opportunity. Obviously, this is something where—. The Cabinet Secretary for health and well-being is looking at this very carefully and will be able to update in further detail in due course.

But I would also like to join the Member in congratulating Labour’s Stella Creasy MP. I think that what was very important about the approach that she took was to engage a number of MPs cross-party in Westminster. It was a Labour-led core but it was co-ordinated—. And, of course, you could see, across the Chamber in the House, that support coming from all benches, and, indeed, of course, that did result in the response from the UK Government. Now, yesterday, Justine Greening, who’s the Minister for Women and Equalities, issued a letter to all MPs in relation to abortions performed in England for women from Northern Ireland. She said in that letter that payments would be funded through the Government’s equalities office, allowing the Department of Health to commission abortion services in England for those from Northern Ireland. So, it is quite clear that we now need to ensure that this can also, and will, apply to Wales.