Press Releases
Anti-abortion ten minute rule Bill is unnecessary and disingenuous
Published 04 June 2007
Anti-abortion ten minute rule Bill is unnecessary and disingenuous
Please find below information and comment from the sexual healthcare charity and abortion provider BPAS (the British Pregnancy Advisory Service) relating to the ten-minute rule ’Termination of Pregnancy (Counselling and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill’ to presented on Tuesday 5th June by Lady Ann Winterton MP (Con).
The last 8 months have seen three Conservative ten-minute rule Bills attempting to limit the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967. This latest Bill seeks to impose a week-long delay before a woman is allowed abortion treatment from a doctor and to compel all women requesting abortion to receive mandatory counselling. Unwarranted delays in abortion treatment are in contravention of good medical practice as clearly outlined by theRoyal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the UKDepartment of Health, theWorld Health Organisation,International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) and doctors worldwide.
For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact the BPAS press office on 020 7612 0206 or 07788 725 185.
Ann Furedi, Chief Executive of BPAS, the UK’s leading sexual healthcare charity which also provides abortion care for 55,000 women each year, said today:
‘This is an unnecessary and disingenuous Bill. All women seeking abortion are already offered counselling and receive information about the effects of treatment, as specified by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
‘This Bill could even be harmful by introducing an unnecessary treatment delay before abortion, causing all women undue stress and potentially requiring some to need more complex treatment.
‘Women don’t need Parliament to tell them to think carefully about abortion. We see 55,000 women each year who wrestle with this choice, often presenting some weeks into pregnancy after needing time to consider their options and to discuss them with their families. Ann Winterton has been voicing her personal objections to abortion for decades now, but politicians should keep out of the consulting room.’
ENDS
NOTES for EDITORS
For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact Laura Riley in the BPAS press office on 020 7612 0206 or 07788 725 185.
BPAS, (formerly known as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service) has been a registered charity since 1968, and is the UK’s leading not-for-profit sexual healthcare provider. BPAS carried out 55,000 terminations of pregnancy last year. 85% per cent of all treatments carried out by BPAS were on behalf of the NHS. Please seewww.bpas.org for further information.
Despite millions of safe, legal abortions happening each year worldwide, there is no conclusive evidence that abortion will cause psychological problems for women. It is possible that Ann Winterton MP may intend to use a study to support her view entitled ‘Abortion in young women and subsequent mental health’, by Fergusson DM, Horwood LJ, Ridder EM (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2006 Jan; 47(1): 16-24).
This study of young women aged 15 to 25 from a particular area of New Zealand concluded that, ‘[Our] findings suggest that abortion in young women may be associated with increased risks of mental health problems.’ It then stated: ‘It is clear the decision to seek (or not seek) an abortion following pregnancy is likely to involve a complex process’, and consequently‘it could be proposed that our results reflect the effects of unwanted pregnancy on mental health, rather than the effects of abortion per se on mental health’.The authors conclude that ‘the issue of whether or not abortion has harmful effects on mental health remains to be fully resolved’, and call for more research into the area.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)’s notes for patients state: ‘How you react [emotionally] will depend on the circumstances of your abortion, the reasons for having it and on how comfortable you feel about your decision. You may feel relieved or sad, or a mixture of both. Some studies suggest that women who have had an abortion may be more likely to have psychiatric illness or to self-harm than other women who give birth or are of a similar age.However, there is no evidence that these problems are actually caused by the abortion; they are often a continuation of problems a woman has experienced before.’http://www.rcog.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=649#involve
The RCOG’s professional guidance on psychological sequelae states:
‘some studies suggest that rates of psychiatric illness or self-harm are higher among women who have had an abortion compared with women who give birth and to non-pregnant women of similar age.It must be borne in mind that these findings do not imply a causal associationand may reflect continuation of pre-existing conditions.’ ‘The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion, Evidence-based Clinical Guideline Number 7’, RCOG September 2004.
Doctors agree that where safe, legal abortion is not available, women’s lives are at risk. Worldwide 68,000 women die each year after unsafe abortion, according to theWorld Health Organisation. Many thousands of others are left with severe long-term health problems as a consequence. Having an abortion poses fewer medical risks than going through pregnancy and birth for most women. See theRoyal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ (RCOG) website for more details.