Motion #11

Health Policy - Abortion

Synopsis

Abortion rights recently came to the fore following the sentencing of Carla Foster, age 45 and a mother of 3 children, to 2 years in prison for terminating her pregnancy beyond the legal time limit. This motion intends to ensure GPEW remains a leader in abortion rights health care.

Motion

Clarification on existing policy HE703

Existing text:

HE703 The Green Party would support a change in the law to allow the procedure to be carried out by appropriately trained nurses and midwives up to three months of pregnancy.

Revised text:

HE703 The Green Party would support a change in the law to allow abortion care to be approved and carried out by appropriately trained nurses and midwives up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. From 12 to 24 weeks, abortion care can be approved and administered by a single doctor. After 24 weeks, an abortion of pregnancy will require agreement from two doctors prior to being administered and is only allowed if there is a risk of life to the pregnant person or child, or remaining risk of grave physical,  or mental injury from continuing with the pregnancy after alternative courses of treatment have been exhausted.

Clarification on existing policy HE706

Existing text:

HE706 The Green Party believes that no person should face imprisonment for ending their own pregnancy. A Green government would ensure that abortion is removed from the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act and is instead governed by the same robust regulatory and ethical frameworks as all other medical procedures. As abortion is a devolved issue in Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is intended that this policy would apply to England and Wales.

Revised text:

HE706 The Green Party believes that no pregnant person and no registered, medical professional trained in abortions in independently regulated conditions should face imprisonment for ending a pregnancy. A Green government would ensure that abortion is removed from the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act and is instead governed by the same robust regulatory and ethical frameworks as all other medical procedures. As abortion is a devolved issue in Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is intended that this policy would apply to England and Wales.

New Policy: Introduction of Safe Access Zones

HEXXX The Green Party would implement safe access zones, to be introduced with a ‘blanket’ provision, applying to all sites across England and Wales that provide abortion care without evidence of local harassment being required. Responsibility for establishing these safe access zones sits at a national level and not with local councils or health boards. Councils could be given the power to vary these zones depending on individual site circumstances. Breaches of the terms of these zones could be addressed by police intervention, with the potential for those breaching the terms of the zone being charged with a criminal offence.

“Abortion clinic” means:

• A place approved for the purposes of section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967 by the Secretary of State under subsection (3) of that section, or
• A hospital identified in a notification to the Chief Medical Officer under section 2(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 in the current or previous calendar year, and published identifying it as such, where “current” or “previous” are references to the time at which an alleged offence under subsection (1) of this section takes place.

A “safe access zone” means an area which is within a boundary which is 150 metres from any part of an abortion clinic or any access point to any building or site that contains an abortion clinic and is:

• On or adjacent to a public highway or public right of way,
• In an open space to which the public has access,
• Within the curtilage of an abortion clinic, or building or site which contains an abortion clinic, or
• In any location that is visible from a public highway, public right of way, open space to which the public have access, or the curtilage of an abortion clinic.

Within the safe access zone, the following behaviours are prohibited:

• Persistently, continuously, or repeatedly occupying a safe access zone;
• Impeding or blocking somebody’s path or an entrance to abortion services;
• Intimidating or harassing a person;
• Seeking to influence or persuade a person concerning their access to or employment in connection with abortion services;
• Demonstrating using items such as leaflets, posters, and pictures specifically related to abortion; and
• Photographing, filming, or recording a person in the zone.