Hospitals forced to contract out abortions

5:17pm Sunday 18th May 2008

Comments (20)   Have your say »

Doctors and nurses are refusing to carry out abortions on moral grounds, forcing the NHS to contract them out to the private sector.

Medics at Eastbourne District General Hospital have forged an agreement that they will not carry out terminations for "social" reasons after 14 weeks of pregnancy - even though the legal limit is 24 weeks.

One of the country's leading gynaecologists - who worked at the hospital for 19 years - last night said the policy reflected increasing unease among medical staff across Britain over late terminations.

Consultant Dr Vincent Argent said carrying out late abortions caused a major moral conflicts for doctors.

Dr Argent, a former director of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: "Late abortions conflict with everything doctors and nurses are trained to do - preserve life."

His opinion has been backed by representatives from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and BPAS.

Dr Argent was speaking ahead of debates due to be held in Parliament tomorrow (on Tuesday) about the Government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

Pro-life MPs have argued for an amendment changing the maximum legal limit for "social" abortions, those carried out on healthy foetuses through parental choice.

Politicians will by asked to vote on whether they believe the limit should be brought earlier, with 13, 16, 18, 20 and 22 weeks expected to be considered.

Dr Argent said the number of NHS doctors prepared to carry out late abortions had dwindled and many hospitals were being forced to contract them out to private clinics or charities.

Around 75% of abortions carried out after 17 weeks of pregnancy each year have been done outside the NHS.

Dr Argent has urged MPs to back plans to bring the limit forward.

Eastbourne MP Nigel Waterson supported his case and would be voting to reduce the time period for abortions.

He told The Argus: "This does not surprise me. It must be depressing for medical staff to be asked to carry out late term abortions when they know that medical science has advanced so much since the 1960s when the original act was was passed and that many premature babies can now survive."

East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the EDGH, confirmed that there was a 14 week limit for social abortions but made clear that staff still carried out terminations which were necessary for medical reasons later in pregnancy.

But the trust declined to comment further on the issue.

Sussex Pro-Life campaigner Judy Law said she could not support the bill because she felt changes were wrongly being made in conjunction with policies on embryology.

She added that she was concerned that no changes were being made to laws which allow pregnancies to be terminated at any time if the child has a disability.

She said: "People need to be aware of the reality of abortion, that it is actually killing a child.

"Whatever age a termination is carried out it doesn't matter. Life starts at conception.

"The message being sent out about disabilities is worrying. It suggests to people with disabilities that their life is not as important as others."

Should abortion after 14 weeks be outlawed?