Home   Site Map

Protection of Conscience Project
Proposed Legislation
United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)
Traduire à français         Tradurre all'italiano         Traduzca al español         Traduza a português            Übersetzen Sie zu Deutsch     Oversett til Norsk

Guidance on the Termination of Pregnancy:
The Law and Clinical Practice in Northern Ireland
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Consultation Paper on the Termination of Pregnancy (16 July, 2008)

  Introduction
The following extracts of a document released for public consultation are relevant to the exercise of freedom of conscience by health care workers in Northern Ireland.

Responses to the consultation will be accepted on or before Monday 22 September 2008.

Responses can be returned by email, fax or by post to:
Email: familypolicyunit@dhsspsni.gov.uk
Post: Family Policy Unit
Room C4.22
Castle Buildings
Stormont Estate
Belfast
BT4 3SQ
 
  2 Current Law on the Termination of Pregnancy
2.1 The law relating to termination of pregnancy in Northern Ireland is different from that in England, Wales and Scotland. The Abortion Act 1967, as amended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, does not extend to Northern Ireland and the grounds on which abortion may be carried out here are more restrictive than those in England, Wales and Scotland.
 
 
  4 Conscientious Objection
4.1 Some staff may have a conscientious objection to termination of pregnancy on moral and/or religious grounds. No-one can compel staff to actively participate in the assessment or in performing a termination and the right to object on grounds of conscience should be recognised and respected – except in circumstances where the woman’s life is in immediate danger and emergency action needs to be taken. Health and Social Care Trusts should also have appropriate arrangements in place to accommodate such requests from staff. However, staff with a conscientious objection cannot opt out of providing general care for women undergoing termination of pregnancy. The personal beliefs of staff should not prejudice general patient care.
   
  4.2 Where a woman presents herself to her GP for advice or assessment in relation to a termination of pregnancy and that GP has a conscientious objection, he/she should have in place arrangements with; practice colleagues, another GP practice, or a Health Social Care Trust to whom the woman can be referred. 
   
  4.3 The General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) Good Medical Practice (Nov 2006) states that:

‘If carrying out a particular procedure or giving advice about it conflicts with your religious or moral beliefs, and this conflict might affect the treatment or advice you provide, you must explain this to the patient and tell them they have the right to see another doctor. You must be satisfied that the patient has sufficient information to enable them to exercise that right. If it is not practical for a patient to arrange to see another doctor, you must ensure that arrangements are made for another suitably qualified colleague to take over your role.’

This guidance is publicly available on the GMC website – http://www.gmc-uk.org
   
  4.4 The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), The NMC Code of professional conduct: standards of conduct, performance and ethics (April 2008) states:

“you must inform someone in authority if you experience problems that prevent you working within this Code or other nationally agreed standards.”

The code also states that Nurses and midwives do not have the right to refuse to take part in emergency treatment:

“You must be able to demonstrate that you have acted in someone’s best interests if you have provided care in an emergency.”

This guidance is publicly available on the NMC website - www.nmcuk.org/

Back Next