Sexual health body backs no-limits abortion

A prominent health organisation has backed the decriminalisation of abortion in England and Wales, in the face of huge public opposition.

The council of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) voted last week to support the removal of abortion safeguards.

Recent polling shows almost three quarters of the British public want abortion to be regulated by the law.

Trauma

The group, which claims to represent 15,000 doctors and nurses, will now lobby Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to end legal protections on abortion and allow women to take abortion pills at home.

The FSRH’s move follows a lengthy campaign by abortion giant the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.

Clare Bremner, a counsellor for the Abortion Recovery Care and Helpline in Scotland, said she couldn’t help but wonder if she was living in a “parallel universe”.

She said: “Do all these bodies really not see increased dangers for women in these moves? The push for home abortions takes no account of the many women traumatised by abortion”.

‘Inhumane’

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children’s Dr Anthony McCarthy also spoke out against the move, saying it amounts to abortion providers trying to place themselves outside the reach of the law.

He said: “Such persons and the ideology they promote in no way represent good medicine nor the thousands of medics who seek to support life and health in ways truly respectful of every human being.”

Peter Williams, Executive Officer for the charity Right to Life, said: “Such an extreme move would be horrifically inhumane, and polling shows it has no support outside a tiny minority of the population.

“Rather, the vast majority want to see lower abortion time limits, more support for women in unplanned pregnancies, and tighter legal controls on abortion.”

No public support

Earlier this month, a poll by ComRes found that 72 per cent of Brits believe abortion should be subject to the law.

A poll by ICM for the BBC documentary Abortion on Trial showed only 15 per cent of the public were in favour of a woman having an abortion without needing medical approval.

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