'Callous' amendment to include abortions in baby loss certificates defeated

TUV MLA Timothy Gaston said he wanted to make it clear that women who have had abortions would be included in the bill for baby loss certificates

A TUV amendment to a new bill on baby loss certificates, which would add specific language to include women who have had abortions, has been defeated.

The amendment which was described as "callous", by an Alliance MLA, received 53 no votes and 23 votes for.

Currently in Northern Ireland, the death of a baby after 24 weeks is officially recorded as a stillbirth but there is no formal recognition of loss before 24 weeks, as there is in England.

The Department of Finance (DoF) carried out a 12-week public consultation on proposed policy content for a formal scheme in Northern Ireland.

TUV MLA Timothy Gaston said: "The system must allow parents who lose a baby through termination to apply for a certificate but only if they want one, there is no forced participation."

Gaston said his amendment would apply to women who have had an abortion for medical reasons or chose to have an abortion and regretted it.

However Alliance MLA Kelly Armstrong said the proposed scheme already covered "all forms of loss".

Armstrong, who has spoken publicly about how she has experienced 13 miscarriages, said Gaston's amendment was a "very triggering and upsetting use of language".

'It already covers all forms of loss'

Alliance MLA Kelly Armstrong said Gaston's amendment was a "very triggering and upsetting use of language"

"As a former bereavement counsellor using the word abortion to someone who has miscarried when it's on their medical records as a spontaneous abortion is incredibly callous and cruel."

Armstrong added that using that language "on the face of the bill when it already covers all forms of loss is more of a political point scoring and harming women".

"I don't think that harming people like myself who find the use of the word abortion connected to a very much loved baby that I wanted to have is fair," Armstrong told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme.

"The certificate needs to be as flexible as possible to meet the needs of the grieving parents...and I can honestly say as bereaved parent I don't need to know how someone has lost their baby."

Gaston said his amendment was being "misrepresented" and wanted to make it clear that women who have had abortions would be included in the bill.

"It is important that those that have had an abortion, in some cases later on they deeply regret doing so - giving them the option to apply for a baby loss certificate would help the process of dealing with that loss," Gaston told the assembly.

"Denying women in either circumstance that option or suggesting it is wrong - that indeed to me is cruel."

'We do have to be sensitive with words'

Nikcollette McPeake is from the Little Forget Me Nots Trust which supports bereaved parents who experienced the loss of a child

Nikcollette McPeake from the Little Forget Me Nots Trust which supports bereaved parents who experienced the loss of a child told the Talkback programme that they support "any parent who has said goodbye to a child no matter how that's happened".

"We are glad to see that the certificate initially said any loss to include every single parent, we look at grief as grief and that's it.

"I hope we can get to the end of this with the terminology sensitively used because we do have to be sensitive with words, with understanding the people at the forefront of this," Ms McPeake said.

Leader of the opposition, SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole said the bill is already "drafted to be inclusive"

Leader of the opposition, SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole acknowledged that there are those who have had abortions who may wish to obtain a baby loss certificate, but that there is nothing in the current bill to prevent them from doing so.

"This bill is drafted to be inclusive," O'Toole said.