Plans are to be announced by the Department of Health for a system to be put into place to offer women independent counselling before committing themselves to having an abortion.

The move is designed to give women more ‘breathing space’, according to pro-life campaigners and could result in as many as 60,000 fewer terminated pregnancies each year in the UK.

The plan would offer a mandatory obligation on abortion clinics where women could receive independent counselling, which would be arranged on separate premises by a group who do not carry out abortions.

People who are not in favour of abortion clinics say the counselling that is currently offered by them is biased because they are run as a business. This is a claim that clinics rigorously deny.

There is set to be a vote in the House of Commons ahead of the proposed change, on amendments to a public health Bill that was put forward by Conservative backbench MP, Nadine Dorries. The amendment would stop private organisations, such as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas) and Marie Stopes, which carry out terminations, from offering pre-abortion counselling. Women would instead be offered free sessions with independent counsellors.

An attempt to change laws surrounding abortion by reducing the time limit for terminations from 24 to 20 weeks was defeated in a free vote in 2008. Now, ministers appear keen to avoid a similar vote and believe that announcing discussions on independent counselling will prevent it from going ahead.

View the original Sky News article here.

There are hundreds of crisis pregnancy centres (CPCs) that offer counselling and advice independently of the NHS. The government has announced that they are considering handing the counselling role to independent organisations, which could see them take over work carried out by abortion providers such as Marie Stopes and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).

The undercover investigation was conducted by researchers for Education for Choice, a pro-choice charity that provides education and training about abortion. It was operated in 10 centres run by Christian and anti-abortion organisation, throughout which it was discovered that there was a wide difference in the quality of counselling being offered, evidence that there was poor practice in most of them and advice being given that was factually incorrect.

Some of this advice ranged from making links between abortion and breast cancer, to actions that were designed to steer women away from abortion, such as talking about ‘the child’ and showing them baby clothes.

Some of the centres that were visited included those run by Life, who were recently appointed to a panel that advises the government on sexual health, which has set alarm bells ringing amongst pro-choice campaigners.

At one Life centre in London, the undercover researcher was given a leaflet called ‘Abortions – How they’re Done’, which made claims incorrectly that 85 per cent of abortions are carried out using vacuum aspiration. The leaflet stated that ‘the unborn child is sucked down the tube’.

A spokesperson for Life, said, “The misinformation which allegedly a Life worker gave to a mystery client was apparently contained in a leaflet that was not produced by Life. We therefore can’t comment on it but are investigating the overall complaint.”

There were numerous cases of counsellors giving inaccurate information across a range of organisations throughout the country.

You can view the original Guardian article here.

Government statistics show that the number of abortions among women over 40 has risen by more than 30 per cent in a decade, reports the Telegraph.

According to government statistics, the number of women aged 40 and over who have had an abortion has risen by almost a third since 2000. Last year alone a total of 8,179 over 40s made the decision to terminate their pregnancy, 650 of whom were over 45, and 21 of whom were over 50.

The figures include those of women who had actively tried to become pregnant in their 40s, but opted for a termination after screenings disclosed a high risk of abnormalities such as Down’s syndrome.

Figures also revealed that the highest number of abortions were carried out before 12 weeks, which is the time at which the first antenatal screening is due to take place.

Experts are attributing the rise to a combination of increased sexual activity among older women and larger numbers of both divorcees and singles engaging in casual and short-term sexual encounters and relationships.

British Pregnancy Advisory Service chief executive, Ann Furedi, has said she believes that women are generally remaining more sexually active for longer, and women in their 40s are now considering themselves as sexual players in a way that they didn’t a decade ago.

She commented: ‘Many older women, especially those who came off the contraceptive pill because of their age, were inclined to take chances with contraception, only to be “stunned” when they found themselves pregnant’.

Abortion is a distressing experience for any women, but those over 40 may find themselves particularly confused and in turmoil about their impending decision.

Despite many couples opting to have children later on in life, by the age of 40 the majority of women wishing for family life will already have children, and those who didn’t will usually be settled. In either case an unplanned pregnancy may be extremely difficult. Mother’s who already have a family and don’t wish to extend it any further may find that their maternal instinct leaves them feeling guilty and unsure about their decision, and women who had never planned or wanted a family may now feel overwhelmed by the fact that option is now there.

If you are faced with a similar situation and are struggling to make a decision about abortion or finding it difficult to move on after an abortion, then a counsellor may be able to help you. If you would like to find out more about counselling please visit our abortion fact-sheet for further information.

As it stands, women who are in their fist nine weeks of pregnancy and choose to undergo an early medical abortion must take two sets of tablets between 24 and 48 hours apart under the supervision of a doctor or nurse at a hospital or clinic.

However, Britain’s largest abortion provider is proposing changes which would scrap these rules and would allow women to take the second pill in her own home, rather than returning to a hospital or GP.

Though this is actually common practice already in many other countries such as the U.S, Canada, France and Denmark, experts over here are concerned that self administering the tablets could lead to complications.

An estimated 1.5 per cent of patients who take the tablets are likely to be admitted to hospital with complications, and women have also been found to be twice as likely to need hospital treatment after this type of abortion compared to the surgical procedure.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) believe that changes in the law would mean the process would be made ‘easier’ if women were able to take the second tablet home thus eliminating the anxiety of returning to the hospital.

The Department of Health is contesting the changes and believes the system in place should remain the same.

A spokesman for Life, the anti-abortion charity, agreed: ‘The psychological and physical health of women will be compromised should this High Court challenge succeed.’

If you are suffering from the aftermath of having a abortion, or if you are considering your options and would like someone to talk to then please visit the homepage of this site where you can use the search tool to locate a professional counsellor in your local area.

Alternatively, for more information about abortion or miscarriage then please visit our fact-sheet here.

View the original article here

With a 35% increased risk of a low birth weight baby and a 36% raised risk of a pre-term baby in later pregnancies for those who aborted in their first or second trimester, surely this is a huge green light for increasing counselling services for those considering abortion.

Dr Prakesh Shah, author of the review, published today in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said that she believes there is a strong need for women to be counselled about the risks of terminations before making an informed choice.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists explained that it wished to underline the importance of support for women’s choices and the need for sensitivity in counselling women about termination of pregnancy in line with current research evidence.

Gill Frances, chair of the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group, said “We need high quality sex and relationships education at school and at home and effective contraception.”

Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said “Contraception plays a vital role in preventing teenage pregnancy and earlier this year I announced a further investment of £26.8m to improve women’s access to contraception and help reduce the number of abortions, repeat abortions and teenage pregnancies”.

Read more …