2. Questions to the Counsel General – in the Senedd on 14 March 2018.
3. What legal advice has the Counsel General provided regarding changing the law in Wales to allow women to take abortion tablets in their homes? OAQ51905
I am aware of the statement of opinion tabled last week in the names of Jenny Rathbone and Julie Morgan, and that the Member had subscribed to that statement. I was in the Chamber yesterday to hear a question posed to the First Minister on this topic also. In Scotland, pregnant women can take the second stage of a medical abortion at home. However, this position has recently been challenged by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, and we here will keep an eye on the position in Scotland.FootnoteLink
Thank you for that response, Counsel General. I am of the opinion, as is outlined in the statement of opinion, that we should take a medical approach to this issue, rather than a legal approach that is based on old law emerging from some of the ethical debates that were taking place over half a century ago. I think we are now looking at this through a medical lens, and what is best for the woman, and what is best for health. So, my understanding is, as has just been mentioned by the Counsel General, that there is some legal doubt as to some aspects of this, and, if so, do we need greater clarity on the legal position here in Wales, and does the Government have any intention to tackle that issue?
Well, the Abortion Act 1967 gave powers to Ministers in Scotland to use those powers, and to Ministers here in Wales, to be able to list categories of locations as places where it is possible to allow the second phase of an abortion to take place. What has happened in Scotland, which gives context to the discussion here in Wales, is that the Ministers took that decision last October and provided medical guidelines for the health service in Scotland in that context. But, as I just mentioned, a legal challenge has been set following that. That challenge is not in the public domain yet, I don't think, but it is relevant to the legal analysis in Scotland, as it is also here in Wales. So, it is important for us to keep that under review before we can be certain of the legal position that is relevant here too. But the subject is obviously extremely important and is one that we should actually look at through the current lens, as the Member mentioned in his question.
What you've just told us about the challenge to the Scottish decision is very interesting. It's difficult to understand in the context of what we're asking women to do is to take this pill and then go home on the bus and have the miscarriage on the bus, and I can't see how this in their best interests, or indeed prudent healthcare. So, I'd be very interested to know what action you think the Welsh Government might take in the light of this challenge, whether you're going to wait for this challenge to run its course, which could be many months, or whether you might be prepared to bite the bullet on what, as far as I understand it, is perfectly within the health Secretary or the Government's domain to extend the place where medical abortions can be carried out.
Well, the issue that the Member identified is of course a critical issue about the safety of women and the supportive environment in which what is a medical process continues to the end of the process, if you like. And, so, that is obviously the live issue at the heart of this question. As I say, the legal framework is the same for Ministers in Wales as it is in Scotland. I think it's right that we should have regard to what the challenge contains, so that we understand what the potential outcomes are, but certainly, from the perspective of encouraging women to be safe when they are undertaking this procedure, clearly the concerns that the Member raises are absolutely paramount in that context.