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Opinion,
Comment & Reviews
Abortion services |
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Marie
Stopes survey of GP attitudes to abortion.
In mid June, Marie Stopes International published the results
of its survey into GP attitudes to abortion. The survey was
the first major investigation into the views GPs hold on abortion
for 26 years. Over 7000 GPs were surveyed, a sample big enough
to make the results reliable. Given that they usually provide
one of the two doctors signatures required before any abortion
can legally proceed, GPs are crucial to the smooth operation
of the 1967 Abortion Act.
The findings of the survey were positive for those who are
keen to ensure that women can access abortion services. The
show a massive 'sea change' in GPs' opinions on the issue
of abortion, since the last significant survey in 1973 by
National Opinion Polls. In the 1973 survey, only 24 per cent
of GPs supported the principle of changing the law to introduce
abortion at the request of a woman. In contrast, this research
found that the majority of GPs would support changes in the
law to make abortion easier for women: 60 per cent of GPs
surveyed said they would support the introduction of abortion
on request in the first trimester - or first 14 weeks - of
pregnancy.
However, it also found that a significant minority of GPs
may be actively working to delay or prevent women from accessing
abortion services to which they are legally entitled. The
study found that this minority of family doctors said they
were against abortion, but refused to declare their conscientious
objection.
Other key findings in the report include:
- 82 per cent of GPs describe
themselves as 'pro-choice'
- 18 per cent said they
were anti-abortion
- 76 per cent of GPs thought
women should be entitled to free NHS abortions
- 85 per cent thought GPs
with a conscientious objection to abortion should declare
their position to women
- 10 per cent said there
was no need to inform women of a conscientious objection
- One in five of those
against abortion said they still supported a woman's right
to chose
- More than a quarter of
anti-abortion GPs said they did not believe they should
have to tell women that they conscientiously objected
to the practice
MSI's Deputy Chief Executive, Helen Axby, said the organisation
was both encouraged and disturbed by the findings in the report.
She said: "MSI is encouraged by the strength of support from
GPs for reform, to introduce a modern law where the decision
on abortion rests with the woman concerned - in consultation
with a doctor. At the moment the woman is at the mercy of
two doctors exercising discretionary powers. We are disturbed
by the finding that a small, but significant minority of GPs
may be imposing their own moral standards and values upon
women, causing distress, delay and financial hardship."
In response to the survey findings, he British Medical Association
said GPs had a responsibility to provide sympathetic support
and non-directive counselling for women seeking abortions.
Dr John Chisholm, chairman of the BMA's GP Committee, said:
"Women who approach their doctors with an unwanted pregnancy
will have thought long and hard about the choices that face
them. If they are seeking termination, GPs have a duty to
respond with sensitivity and to seek to do their best for
their patient." Dr Chisholm also stressed that it was unethical
for a GP with a conscientious objection to abortion to delay
referral to another practitioner.
Professor Mike Pringle, chairman of the Royal College of General
Practitioners (RCGP), said: "We support a woman's right to
make considered decisions within the limits of the law and
believe GPs should have the right to choose their stance as
long as it does not affect a woman's right to choose or access
services."
Predictably, Nuala Scarisbrick, of the anti-abortion charity
LIFE, said: "If the suggestions contained in today's report
came into force the damage abortion does to women's lives
and to our society would be magnified. The time to say enough
is enough must be now.''
Representatives of pro-choice organisations in contrast are
keen to ensure women are treated sympathetically and appropriately
by GPs. At a meeting to launch the research report, it was
suggested that GPs with a conscientious objection to abortion
should make this clear at their practices. This would ensure
that women seeking abortion would know to approach another
GP, and would mean that GPs who do not agree with abortion
could practise medicine in line with the conscience. It was
also suggested that those GPs who are pro-choice could given
support for their views, and encouraged to make their stance
public, by displaying 'proud to support choice' stickers at
their surgeries.
MSI can be contacted at 0171 574 7353
Their website address is www.mariestopes.org.uk
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