New guidelines will ‘rush women through abortion process’

Christian Concern’s Tim Dieppe highlights the dangers of draft guidelines published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which advise that women should be able to book an abortion without seeing a GP or having counselling.

500 abortions a day

Currently around 190,000 abortions take place each year in England and Wales. This is equivalent to over 500 abortions per day, every day of the year. This is an appalling stain on our nation as we sacrifice our children on the altars of convenience or consumerism. Many women feel pressured into having an abortion, and sex-selective abortions and other illegal reasons for abortion are now commonplace.

Live abortions in the home

Draft guidelines published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence visage that early abortions can take place in the home with no routine follow-up appointments. The guidance states that women having a medical abortion should be advised “that they may see the pregnancy as they pass it”, “what the pregnancy will look like”, and “whether there may be any movement.” In other words, they may see signs of life in the baby as it leaves the womb. The blunt fact is that a mother carrying out an abortion at home on her own may see her baby when it leaves the womb, and the baby that she is intending to dispose of may still be alive at that point. This will be very disturbing for the mother who may have no support at hand in her home.

Self-referral without meeting a GP

The guidelines recommend that women should be able to self-refer for an abortion without having to meet with a GP. They recommend that women should not be required to have any counselling or time for reflection before an abortion. Instead, any request for an abortion should be assessed within a week of the request and that the termination should be provided within a week of the assessment.

The guidelines also recommend providing pregnancy consultations by phone or video meaning that the woman would not be personally assessed. They also recommend increasing the range of settings where abortions can be provided as well as increased funding for travel costs for obtaining abortions.

Training on abortion to be made a core component

The guidelines recommend that all trainees in relevant specialities are trained in termination of pregnancy which should include practical experience of pregnancy termination services. The possibility that some will opt out due to conscientious objection is mentioned, however training on abortion is later described as “essential training” that should not be viewed as optional. Currently, abortion training is not part of the core curriculum, so trainee medial students have to opt in to abortion training. Making abortion training a core part of the curriculum that students need to opt out of will put pressure on Christians and others who do not want to participate in killing babies.

Unsafe abortions

These guidelines have the clear intention of making abortion easier and quicker, but not safer. They want abortion to be more accessible and increasingly normalised. The prospect of women having abortions unaided in the home is appalling. Babies are already being killed on an industrial scale in the UK. This is a move to accelerate and step up this destructive programme.

It is time for those with a conscience to make their voice heard for the unborn. Do join us at March for Life in London on Saturday May 11th to make your voice heard. Guest speakers include a woman who carried a child conceived in rape, and a survivor of a failed abortion. It’s time to say ‘no more’ to the abortion atrocity.