Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Earl Howe on 16 December 2014 (HL Deb, cols 101–2), whether they sought the endorsement of (1) the British Medical Association, (2) the General Medical Council, and (3) any of the Royal Medical Colleges, for their Guidance in Relation to the Requirements of the Abortion Act 1967; and if so, what were the respective responses.

The Department developed the guidance in conjunction with a number of professional organisations and bodies; these included the British Medical Association, the General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The guidance was published solely by the Department.