‘We are standing by with a 100% cure and not using it’: Government oppose tried and tested measure to reduce number of birth defects and abortions

11 July, 2016

Lord Rooker, introducing the debate.

Members of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG) in the House of Lords spoke out on Friday in support of a private members’ bill that would reduce the number of fatal foetal abnormalities thereby reducing the number of abortions for the same reason. The Bread and Flour Regulations (Folic Acid) Bill is being proposed by APPHG member Lord Rooker, and would add folic acid to flour, which would reduce the incidence of neural tube defects like anencephaly. The British Humanist Association (BHA), which provides the secretariat to the APPHG, is supporting the Bill.

Anencephaly usually is fatal in the womb, and when it is not, the newborn infant almost invariably dies in a matter of hours. As a result 80% of women who receive such a diagnosis choose to terminate their pregnancy.

Folic acid taken prior to conception can significantly reduce the number of neural tube defects. But only about a third of women take folic acid before pregnancy, and with many pregnancies being unplanned, it is impossible for all women to plan to do so – unless folic acid occurs anyway in all women’s diets. Requiring folic acid to be added to bread would achieve just such an aim, and has proven to be effective in other countries, like the United States. There is no evidence that such a move is harmful.

Speaking in favour of the motion, Lord Rooker said, ‘The human tragedy, much of which could be avoided by a science-led policy, should be the reason for a push on policy change. There are too many terminations, and too many babies are born with a serious lifelong disability. Mandation is needed to reduce this human distress and misery, to save lives by avoiding terminations, and to prevent lifelong disability and significant public health costs.’ He was joined by fellow APPHG members Lord Hughes of Woodside, Baroness Flather, and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, as well as several other peers.

The only peer to speak against action was the Government minister, Lord Prior of Brampton, who set out the Government’s opposition as being based on more general philosophical objection to such society-wide public health measurers. This prompted Lord Rooker to say that ‘It is a bit like somebody in South America at the moment finding a real cure for the Zika virus and not using it. We are standing by with a 100% cure and not using it.’

BHA Director of Public Affairs Pavan Dhaliwal commented, ‘The evidence in support of including folic acid in flour is overwhelming. It reduces unnecessary suffering with no known harms. 76 countries around the world already do it and it is long past time the UK does too.’

The Bill passed its second reading and now proceeds to committee stage.

Notes

For further comment or information, please contact BHA Campaigns Manager Richy Thompson at richy@humanists.uk or on 020 7324 3072.

Read bpas’s statement on the benefits of folic acid fortification: https://www.bpas.org/about-our-charity/press-office/press-releases/pregnancy-alcohol-warnings-drowning-out-messages-on-folic-acid-flour-should-be-fortified-with-key-vitamin-1/

Read Friday’s debate: https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2016-07-08/debates/16070837000492/BreadAndFlourRegulations(FolicAcid)Bill(HL)

Read more about the BHA’s work on abortion: https://humanists.uk/campaigns/public-ethical-issues/sexual-and-reproductive-rights/

The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people who seek to live ethical and fulfilling lives on the basis of reason and humanity. It promotes a secular state and equal treatment in law and policy of everyone, regardless of religion or belief.