Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law 1997 allows abortion up to 12 weeks gestation if “the woman’s condition causes her distress”, which, as the consultation acknowledges, in practise means abortion on demand. It is permitted up to 24 weeks if “the child, if born, would suffer from physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously disabled”.
The Minister wants to find out if Jersey’s legislation “reflects current social values”, “meets the needs of women” and “takes account of changes in medical practice”.
The consultation sets out a list of possible grounds for abortion, and invites respondents to tick which should be included in the law. These include abortion for if the baby is a girl or boy – “for reasons of sexual selection (the intentional aborting of a foetus of a certain gender)”, aborting one twin “in the case of multiple pregnancy (ie. twins, triplets etc) reducing the number of multiple foetuses either because of foetal abnormality or to improve the outcomes for some of the foetuses (known as selective termination)” and “where the woman has intellectual or cognitive disability”.
Later on, the same grounds are listed, with respondents invited to select whether abortion should be available on those grounds up to 12, 20 or 24 weeks gestation, or “available at any point in pregnancy”. It is thus possible to say that abortion should be allowed up to birth for all the possible grounds, including sex selection and to kill one sibling out of a set of twins or triplets.
However, the consultation seems to discourage the idea of having any restriction by grounds or gestation, noting that “The World Health Organisation (“WHO”) are opposed to laws that restrict termination by grounds. They recommend that termination should be available at the request of the pregnant woman and without justification of need (commonly referred to as “termination on request”), and listing a number of jurisdictions that permit it. They also quote the WHO’s recommendation “that laws should not prohibit termination based on gestational limits”. The consultation also emphasises that women could be prosecuted for having abortions outside of the current law – but fail to note a single example of this happening.
Similarly, the consultation asks respondents if buffer zones are needed around abortion clinics, while giving no hint that vigils or demonstrations take place outside the hospital that performs abortions on Jersey.
SPUC Comment
Alithea Williams, SPUC’s Public Policy Manager, said: “This consultation is incredibly leading, constantly quoting bodies who advocate extremely permissive abortion regimes, while giving no space for arguments for protecting unborn babies and restricting abortion, or even retaining the existing law. Despite the current law on Jersey being broadly in line with European norms, and giving no evidence of problems with it, they seem determined to expand it to the most extreme option possible. This has even led them to offering such blatantly horrific scenarios as aborting a baby up to birth because she is a girl, or to “reduce” twins or triplets.
“We urge supporters on Jersey to respond to the consultation and oppose these awful proposals. We will be providing briefing materials to assist with this.”
The Termination of pregnancy in Jersey consultation is running until 31 October 2023, and can be found here: https://www.gov.je/Government/Consultations/Pages/TerminationOfPregnancy.aspx
