Review of Termination of Pregnancy Guidelines

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Health (a) if he will give an update on the review of the Termination of Pregnancy guidelines which commenced in March 2013, particularly with regard to the criteria for mandatory pre-abortion counselling and the contents of the counselling; and (b) when will this review be completed.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Today, the majority of women seeking abortion already receive counselling. MOH has reviewed the criteria related to pre-abortion counselling and is proposing to extend mandatory pre-abortion counselling to all pregnant women seeking termination of pregnancy in Singapore. We will be consulting the public on this proposal in the second half of 2014.

The review of the contents of the pre-abortion counselling is ongoing and it includes the improvement of information provided during counselling to women seeking abortion, as well as strengthening of the training provided to abortion counsellors. More details will be shared in the second half of 2014.