Abortion case is 'best news for the unborn baby'

ABORTION laws will not automatically be affected by a decision to protect unborn children under a human rights convention. Director of public health Dr David Jeffs said that implications from a possible European Court judgement would not necessarily affect the island.

But a right to life group hailed the possibility as hope for the status of the unborn child.

The European Court may be asked to accept a foetus's right to life by a French woman whose six-month pregnancy was terminated due to a doctor's mistake. French courts decided that the doctor could not be prosecuted for homicide because the foetus did not have the right to life.

It is being decided in Strasbourg whether the full hearing can go ahead.

If Thi-Nho Vo wins her case, abortion laws could be invalidated across Europe, including the legality of the morning-after pill.

CI Right to Life chairperson Angela Meadowcroft said that this would be the best news for unborn babies since the legalisation of abortion.

'The word foetus dehumanises the baby for some people,' she said.

'Human life begins at the moment of conception.'

Dr Jeffs said that abortions could be performed in Guernsey only under the terms of the 1996 Abortion Law ' after 24 weeks, they can be carried out solely to save the mother's life.

The Board of Health will watch the developments in Europe, but these would not be binding in Guernsey.

'The board would give consideration whether any change would be required in Guernsey,' he said.

A British Medical Association spokesman said that it was important to have the right to perform abortions when necessary provided the doctor was willing to support it.

They had to work within the framework of the law and the spokesman hoped it would remain as it was.

'We wouldn't want to make it impossible for anyone to have an abortion when indicated.'

A mix-up in a Lyons hospital between Mrs Vo, who was six months pregnant, and another woman with the same surname, who was due to have a coil removed, meant that the gynaecologist damaged the amniotic sac, making it necessary for a therapeutic abortion to be carried out.

Mrs Vo, who could not speak French, could not communicate with the gynaecologist.

Dr Jeffs said that they were obviously concerned with the question of how to avoid a mix-up in surgery.

'At the Princess Elizabeth Hospital we have various procedures in place to ensure that the right operation is performed on the right patient,' he said.