Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-05-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on the introduction of cell-free DNA non-invasive prenatal testing of the finding of the report of the Pro-Life APPG, Abortion on the grounds of disability, published in July 2013, that many parents feel steered towards abortion on receiving a diagnosis of fetal abnormality and that they do not receive adequate information about other options.

Jane Ellison

There is a long established Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme (NHS FASP) that prospective parents can choose whether to participate in.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has recommended that non-invasive prenatal testing for Down’s syndrome should be introduced as an additional test into the NHS FASP as part of an evaluation. Ministers are currently considering this important recommendation from the UK NSC which would give pregnant women and their partners more accurate information and should reduce the number of women having to undergo unnecessary invasive testing which carries a risk of miscarriage.

The UK NSC recommendation does not change the offer to prospective parents of participating in the programme, nor the options and choices available when testing identifies a fetus with Down’s, Edwards’ or Patau’s syndrome.

Existing guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists already makes it clear that women and their partners should receive appropriate information and support from a properly trained multidisciplinary team, who must adopt a supportive and non-judgemental approach regardless of whether the decision is to terminate or continue the pregnancy. This should include referral to other professional experts (including palliative care) and referral for counselling when this can help, as part of a co-ordinated package of care.