Memorandum 51
Supplementary evidence from the British
Medical Association
During the BMA's appearance before the Science
and Technology Select Committee's oral evidence session on 17
October 2007, the Committee asked for clarification on several
issues. Dr Tony Calland has asked me to send you the information
below.
TWO DOCTORS'
SIGNATURES IN
THE SECOND
TRIMESTER
As noted by Dr Tony Calland during the oral
evidence session, the BMA has focused primarily on first trimester
abortion. The BMA has clear policy that two doctors' signatures
should not be required up to around 13 weeks. This is based partly
on the view that the risk of pregnancy and childbirth are invariably
higher than the risk of early abortion, but also that women should
be able to access earlier safer abortions without unnecessary
barriers.
The BMA does not have specific policy on two
doctors' signatures during the second trimester, and beyond when
there will be an increasing risk associated with abortion.
The BMA's general policy is that "the Abortion
Act 1967 ... is a practical and humane piece of legislation",
and therefore considers the Act, as it stands, to be appropriate
(which includes the two signature policy for second trimester
and beyond) except where the BMA has specific policy calling for
aspects of the Act to be changed (the recent policy about first
trimester abortion).
THE BMA'S
DEMOCRATIC PROCEDURE
FOR MAKING
BMA POLICY
As this issue was raised during the BMA's oral
evidence session, I thought it would be helpful to the Committee
to explain the clear democratic procedures by which motions are
submitted, debated and voted on at the BMA's Annual Representative
Meeting (ARM).
The annual conference agenda usually includes
some 800 motions and it is therefore necessary to order and prioritise
issues to ensure that the meeting runs effectively. This task
is undertaken by the ARM Agenda Committee which is democratically
elected each year. The Chairman of Conference chairs the Agenda
Committee. At the June 2007 conference this was Dr Michael Wilks.
The deputy conference chairman was Dr Peter Bennie. Dr Wilks completed
his term of office after the 2007 conference, and Dr Bennie is
the current chairman.
Many motions on the agenda are similar in wording
and intent. They may reflect existing BMA policy; or there may
have been a substantial debate at a recent ARM. For example, the
BMA had a substantial debate on abortion time limits at its 2005
ARM, where a motion on the reduction of time limits was debated
and overwhelmingly rejected. The ARM had not, however, discussed
the issue of first trimester abortions. Therefore, priority was
given to debating the issue of first trimester abortion.
The ARM agenda is published with the British
Medical Journal and on the BMA website, and is mailed to all ARM
representatives (along with guidance on submitting alterations
to the agenda), three weeks in advance of the ARM. Representatives
then have the opportunity to submit amendments to the agenda before
the beginning of the ARM. Therefore if a representative is unhappy
with the order of the agenda, and the motions which have been
prioritised for debate, they have over three weeks to submit an
amendment for consideration. A further opportunity is available,
in that if they feel that an important issue is missing from agenda,
they can submit an emergency motion. In addition there is a procedure
by which any motion on the agenda which is not prioritised can
be voted as a "chosen motion" to which time is specifically
allocated.
THE TERM
"REGISTERED MEDICAL
PRACTITIONER"
There was some discussion in the hearing of
the term "registered medical practitioner". This term
is used in legislation to relate to a medically-trained doctor
who is on the General Medical Council's register and therefore
holds a license to practise. It cannot be used to describe another
health professional such as a nurse or midwife.
The legal status of the term is found in the
Interpretation Act 1978"Registered medical practitioner"
means a fully registered person within the meaning of the Medical
Act 1956and subsequently Section 55 of the Medical Act
1983.
October 2007
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