RESIDENCY requirements will be removed from the Island’s abortion legislation so that “potentially vulnerable or isolated” people in Jersey temporarily can access pregnancy terminations, after States Members overwhelmingly backed an amendment.
In November, the assistant minister with responsibility for women’s health issues, Deputy Andy Howell, put forward plans to update Jersey’s abortion legislation to enable those who are in Jersey for the purposes of work, but who do not have full residency rights, to access abortion services.
The amendment proposed removing the 90-day minimum residency requirement that is currently in place to access an abortion in Jersey.
Addressing the States Assembly, Deputy Howell said: “The current residency provisions are known to create hardship for potentially vulnerable or isolated women who are in Jersey but ordinarily live elsewhere.
“For example, women who are here for the purposes of work or for an extended period while caring for a relative.”
The Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) 1997 Law currently requires a person to be either ordinarily resident in the Island, or have been resident for 90 days immediately preceding that day on which the abortion takes place.
At the moment, the limit for accessing an abortion on the grounds of distress is the end of the 12th week of pregnancy, which is equivalent to 84 days.
This, combined with the 90-day qualifying period for a non-ordinarily resident, means that someone who is pregnant on arrival in Jersey or shortly after arrival is unable to access an abortion in the Island.
Deputy Louise Doublet, who is chair of the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel, also spoke in support of the amendment.
She said: “My view on termination of pregnancy services is that they are essential healthcare which enable women to have agency and autonomy over their own bodies, and that this health care service should be available to women who need it in our island.
“The law, which was established in 1997, is extremely outdated, and I fully support this amendment.”
Deputy Doublet added: “I’ll make the case that this is actually the very least that we can do in this area, and there is so much more that needs to be done.”
Politicians have also pledged to lodge further amendments to the Island’s “outdated” abortion law before the end of this year – with funding agreed during the Government’s Budget debate last month.
Deputy Howell today revealed that these proposals will include changes to the gestation period, and grounds of criminal offences currently associated with abortions.
“The proposed changes, which are currently being finalised, will be published in March for a short period of consultation ahead of law drafting,” she said.
The proposals come amid increasing scrutiny of Jersey’s abortion process, with a £10,000 independent review quietly published last year uncovering a raft of issues in need of addressing – from “distressing” waits to confidentiality concerns and what was described as a “dehumanising” system for seeking financial help.
Members voted by 41-0 to support the amendment.
