Parents in England who have suffered a miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy may now apply for a baby loss certificate to recognise the life of their child. SPUC has welcomed the scheme as “a step in the right direction towards building a culture of life that recognises the right to life of unborn children”.
A parent who has lost a baby since September 2018 may also apply retroactively for a certificate on the gov.uk website. The scheme, which is voluntary, follows complaints from grieving parents unable to gain official recognition for the loss of an unborn baby.
A memorial book allowing parents to record miscarriages before 24 weeks was recently introduced in Scotland.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Victoria Atkins MP said: “Losing a baby can be a hugely traumatic event and the introduction of certificates to formally acknowledge the loss of a life is a positive step towards better supporting women and parents affected.”
The scheme, introduced as part of the Government’s Women’s Health Strategy, has been hailed by Samantha Collinge, co-chair of the pregnancy loss review commissioned in 2018, as “a milestone moment for people who have suffered baby loss…
“Miscarriage, and other types of pre-24 weeks baby loss, is often minimised and treated as a ‘clinical event’ or ‘just one of those things’ rather than the loss of a baby, and sadly the emotional impact of the loss is often disregarded.”
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “We hope that this scheme will bring about a shift in attitude towards unborn babies, especially lives whose humanity and right to life have been cruelly denied by abortion.
“While abortion robs the unborn of personhood, the grief a parent feels following a miscarriage, even before 24 weeks, is proof enough that all unborn lives matter, exactly because they are people.”
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