UK doctors shy away from performing abortions

Apr 18 2007

Experts in the UK are warning of an impending crisis in the National Health Service (NHS) regarding abortions. They say many doctors are opting out of providing such a service.

According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) there has been a considerable rise in the number of doctors who are "conscientious objectors" to abortion.

The RCOG says while it recognizes that abortion is an essential part of women's healthcare and should be adequately resourced, trainee doctors are "opting out" of doing terminations; the RCOG says this will result in a shortage of doctors to meet demand in the future.

Each year around 190,000 abortions are performed in England and Wales and the NHS pays for four out of five; however half of these are carried out by private sector providers, double the proportion performed in the private sector 10 years ago.

The RCOG says if abortions are not available safely, women will turn to unsafe ways of procuring them.

Abortion is legal in Britain up to 24 weeks but it can occur later if doctors believe the baby has a severe disability or if the mother's life is at risk.

Experts say one factor could be because NHS doctors are able to "pick and choose" the areas they train and specialise in and very few opt to carry out terminations when they can choose other areas such as fertility medicine.

The RCOG says while it acknowledges the right of doctors to object to performing abortion, in this essential area it is important there are doctors who are sympathetic and supportive toward its women patients, for whom the decision to terminate a pregnancy was usually not reached lightly.

A spokeswoman for the RCOG says more doctors want something different and abortion care is not seen as an attractive field to be in and for many the ethical issues are complex.

Others suggest a solution to the current crisis might be to increase the involvement of nurses in providing abortion.

According to Ann Furedi, of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, a leading provider of abortions, it is increasingly difficult to recruit doctors to abortion services and doctors often fail to realise how essential the abortion service is.

The anti-abortion group Alive and Kicking, says there are too many abortions taking place and more effort is needed for services to work together and to make abortions rare.

Also the reality now exists that medical technology could soon reach the point where a fetus scheduled for termination in one part of the hospital equates age-wise with one born prematurely and on life support in another ward.

This must have an effect, particularly on young doctors, on their view of abortions; an increasing number appear to view it not as a life saving act but one of terminating life.