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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

My Lords, as the House knows, the Government have—as previous Governments before them—a neutral stance on abortion and amendments are subject to a free vote. I will restrict my comments to setting out the reasoning behind the existing legislation and the likely effects of the amendment. First, why do we screen for foetal abnormalities? The purpose of screening includes the identification of: anomalies that are not compatible with life, as we heard earlier; anomalies associated with high morbidity and long-term disability; foetal conditions with the potential for intrauterine therapy, and, as suggested earlier, early research in this field shows promise; and foetal conditions that will require postnatal investigation or treatment. As far as possible, prenatal screening is to ensure that women and their partners have accurate information about the foetus. At whatever stage foetal abnormality is diagnosed, women and their partners need good-quality information about the implications of that result and the options open to them. The context in which parents choose whether to have a child should be one in which disability and non-disability are valued equally and parents should receive comprehensive, balanced information and guidance on disability, the rights of disabled people and the support available. On the examination of terminations that are currently performed under this paragraph after 24 weeks, one finds that these cases are usually complex. There may be multiple anomalies rather than one. When the forms are classified, the code which is used is that of the primary condition. This does not always tell the whole picture of each individual case, which is exactly why, in 1990, Parliament chose not to define ““serious handicap”” in the Act. Parliament chose to leave this to the expert judgment of the two doctors, based on the merits of each individual case. The doctors must form their own opinion of the seriousness of the handicap the child would suffer if born, taking into account the facts and circumstances of the case. The existing guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists furthermore urges obstetricians to err on the side of caution when considering whether an abortion could be performed on the grounds of foetal abnormality. Many of your Lordships will be aware that the Science and Technology Committee in the other place has recently reviewed this issue, and its view, with which the Government concur, is that an exhaustive list of abnormalities is not feasible, nor desirable. The Government have accepted the committee’s recommendation to review the guidance on this subject, and have commissioned the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to review its 1996 guidance on the termination of pregnancy for foetal abnormality. As regards the point raised by the noble Lord, Lord Alton, on foetal pain, the 1997 report of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists concluded that before 26 weeks’ gestation the nervous system has not developed sufficiently to allow the foetus to experience pain. I am not aware of any new evidence that has changed that conclusion. 4-D imaging is an exciting development in the field of imaging. Although the noble Lord made the point that the images illustrate the development stages of the foetus, from a scientific perspective they do not change the current knowledge about foetal viability or foetal pain. On the last question he asked, on the legal status of the foetus, both domestic and European law on discrimination—that includes the European Convention on Human Rights—apply only to living persons. The foetus is not regarded as a living person in domestic law and has no rights independent of its mother until it is born alive. The courts have consistently held that a foetus is not recognised as being a separate person from its mother.