Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if it is his policy that a registered medical practitioner may lawfully sign the statutory HSA1 form before receiving any information from the woman named on that form where a good faith opinion for the purposes of section 1(1)(a) of the Abortion Act 1967 is formed between the signing of the form and the termination; and if he will make a statement.

Guidance published in May 2014 by the Department, Guidance in Relation to Requirements of the Abortion Act 1967 which is attached, highlighted that it is the Department’s interpretation of the law that both doctors should ensure that they have considered sufficient information specific to the woman seeking a termination to be able to assess whether the woman satisfies one of the lawful grounds under the Abortion Act 1967.

The guidance is also available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-doctors-on-compliance-with-the-abortion-act