§ 33. Mr. Peter M. Jacksonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether, in view of the difficulties experienced in certain parts of the country in obtaining terminations of pregnancy, he will seek to amend Section 4 of the Abortion Act, 1967, so as to require doctors who decline on grounds of conscience to recommend terminations of pregnancy to refer patients to other doctors who have notified him of their willingness to carry out terminations in all circumstances.
§ Mr. CrossmanNo, Sir. Such matters are the professional concern of the doctors involved. I understand that doctors who have a conscientious objection to abortion would regard it as normal practice to consult colleagues who have no such objections whenever this is necessary in the patient's interest.
§ Mr. JacksonMy right hon. Friend says that this is normal practice, but may I, nevertheless, draw his attention to a 819 particularly outrageous case in Sheffield of a rubella pregnancy which was not terminated, and where the lady concerned was told by a consultant, a Mr. D. C. A. Bevis, that if she underwent an abortion—she was two months' pregnant—she stood a 50–50 chance of dying? The pregnancy went to term, and the child subsequently died. Would not my right hon. Friend agree that that is an outrageous case? The doctor in this case is hiding behind the Section of the Act, and it needs amending.
§ Mr. CrossmanI should not have said that the Sheffield case, which I personally greatly regret, is sufficient proof that the Act needs amending.