6. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services: The Public Health Wales Review of Sexual Health Services

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:05 pm on 17 April 2018.

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Photo of Julie Morgan Julie Morgan Labour 6:05, 17 April 2018

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd also like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for listening to the voices of women and that he will act to allow the termination of pregnancy at home. So, I'd like to thank you very much for that.

I also wanted to say something about inequity and inconsistency. Last year, the Cardiff abortion rights group had a fascinating exhibition, actually, to mark 50 years of the Abortion Act, along with a conference over in the Pierhead. To me, one of the staggering points that came out of that conference was the fact that, in Cardiff, it's six or seven weeks later in terms of getting access to a consultation about an abortion than in Gwent—the neighbouring area—and there always has been a difficulty in Cardiff in getting access to abortions. So, it came out as a clear signal of the inequities that do exist. So, I do urge him to address that point very strongly.

Finally, I just wanted to flag up the barriers that there are for women getting a termination, particularly in Cardiff, where a group of anti-abortionists do gather during the period of Lent outside the clinic on St Mary Street, and make it very uncomfortable for women who are going in to seek a consultation. I know, over the last month, in one of the London boroughs there has been an exclusion zone set up so that nobody can demonstrate in any way, either against or for, and I wondered if the Cabinet Secretary could make any comment about that development because I do believe this is a public health issue, because it is a barrier to women seeking to have a consultation and they should not be in the position of feeling that they are being criticised and pressurised by a group who have different views.