Politicians vote in favour of widening abortion access

Jersey politicians have voted to update the island's termination of pregnancy law by removing the residency restrictions that prevent some women getting an abortion

Politicians voted unanimously in favour of removing the restrictions.

Before the vote on Tuesday, women arriving on the island without residency rights had to wait 90 days before they could have an abortion

In Jersey, it is illegal to terminate a pregnancy after 12 weeks, so after 90 days passed, women who were pregnant on arrival or who became pregnant shortly after arriving would not be able to have an abortion.

Assistant Health Minister Andy Howell said: "It's a very minor change and it means that any woman who is here on work permit or caring for an elderly parent can legally access a termination."

Deputy Louise Doublet, chair of the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel, which holds the government to account on health policy, supported the changes.

She said: "Sometimes women come to the island on work permits and fall pregnant, or, if they are unknowingly pregnant before they arrive, they are unable to access termination services on island and this can create hardship for them."

But Doublet added that the termination of pregnancy law, which dated back to 1997, needed wider modernisation beyond removing the residency restriction.

She said: "Societal values have changed, they have moved on in Jersey and the public of Jersey want to see this law updated to reflect modern reality."

Howell said plans were under way to update the law more widely before the end of the year.

She said: "We are going to talk about it in the women's health political advisory group and then when we have decided on the changes, they will go out for consultation."

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