MPs debate oral hormone pregnancy tests
23 October 2014
On Thursday 23 October MPs took part in a debate on a motion relating to oral hormone pregnancy tests. This debate was scheduled by the Backbench Business Committee.
Watch the debate and read the transcript
The debate was opened by Yasmin Qureshi, Labour MP for Bolton South East.
- Watch Parliament TV: MPs debate oral hormone pregnancy tests
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Text of the Motion
MPs debated the following motion:
"That this House notes that children were born with serious deformities due to hormone pregnancy test drugs taken by expectant mothers between 1953 and 1975; also notes with concern that as the surviving victims enter their forties and fifties many of them face a host of new problems as their bodies continue to suffer; further notes that no official warnings were issued about these drugs until eight years after the first reports indicated possible dangers; further notes that some doctors continued to prescribe the drugs for pregnant women after official warnings from the Committee on Safety of Medicines; calls on the Secretary of State for Health to fully disclose all documents relating to the use of Hormone Pregnancy Tests held by the department from the period between 1953 and 1978; and also calls on the Secretary of State to set up an independent panel to examine these documents."
Backbench Business Committee
The Backbench Business Committee meets weekly on Tuesdays at 1pm to consider requests for debates from any backbench Members of Parliament on any subject, including those raised in e-petitions or national campaigns.
An MP must make a representation before the Committee for an e-petition or petition to be debated; e-petitions exceeding the Government's 100,000 signature threshold are not automatically allocated backbench time.
The Committee then has to decide how to allocate the limited Parliamentary time it has at its disposal. The Committee's meetings are always conducted in public and can be watched on Parliament TV.