Lord Shinkwin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Shinkwin on 2016-03-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will take steps to ensure that the issues highlighted in the Parliamentary Inquiry into Abortion on the Grounds of Disability of 2013, and in particular the finding that many parents are steered towards abortion and feel that they do not receive adequate information about other options, are not exacerbated by the introduction of cell-free DNA, non-invasive prenatal testing techniques.

Lord Prior of Brampton

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 recommendation on non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) does not change the choices available to prospective parents within the NHS FASP. Guidance from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 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.

NIPT testing as part of the NHS FASP will not be used to determine the sex of the foetus. Abortion on the grounds of gender alone is illegal.