Ms Leah Hoctor:

On the Deputy's first question regarding timeframes and foetal impairments, specifically fatal foetal impairments, the basic point to make is that while some European countries impose time limits, the majority do not. Some European countries do not distinguish in law between fatal and severe foetal impairments and will have a general ground for severe foetal impairment within which fatal foetal impairment would come. Some countries distinguish between the two, however, and will have a specific reference to severe impairment and another reference to fatal impairment. Some of these countries will impose a limit for severe foetal impairments but no limit for fatal impairments. However, the majority of European countries do not impose limits in the case of a severe or fatal foetal impairment. I believe the vast majority of them do not do so when the impairment is fatal. In all of these countries, a detailed certification process is involved whereby doctors confirm the existence and nature of the impairment. Where countries set out timeframes, these often fall at around 24 weeks, with some a little earlier, perhaps 20 or 22 weeks. The most common practice, as I stated, is not to distinguish between severe and fatal, and where a distinction is made, there is often no limit for the fatal impairment.