‘Inaccuracies’ in letter from abortion law change critics
HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE president Al Brouard has hit back at ‘inaccuracies’ in the open letter from deputies Carl Meerveld, Liam McKenna, John Dyke, Chris Blin, Sue Aldwell, Bob Murray, John Gollop and Lester Queripel in relation to the Abortion (Guernsey) (Amendment) Law, 2021 (‘the Amendment Law’) published in Tuesday’s Guernsey Press.
Deputy Brouard said the deputies were incorrect in their assertion that some jurisdictions that had decriminalised abortion had also limited it to the elective abortion period.
He said the group letter’s assertions – that other jurisdictions had set limits on when women could self-abort and that Guernsey was basing its decisions on out of date medical information – were incorrect.
He dismissed the premise that the Guernsey amendment affected the rights of the disabled and reaffirmed that rights for individuals who refused to participate in providing abortion care would remain.
‘The signatories to the open letter refer to the committee’s proposals going “much further than expected and well beyond the UK law”. The committee would comment that there is no “UK law”,’with the British jurisdictions having various pieces of legislation in place.
‘The changes which have been approved to the Abortion Law in Guernsey do not extend abortion provision beyond what can already be seen across abortion legislation in Jersey, the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and England, Scotland and Wales, when considered together, and seek to modernise the legislation in a number of areas to reflect best clinical practice,’ he said.
Deputy Brouard’s letter will be published in full later this week
