House of Commons debate on ‘Informed Consent’
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On 2 November 2010 an adjournment debate was held in the House of Commons regarding the need for women to be given more information prior to an abortion. The debate was called for by Nadine Dorries MP who highlighted the urgent need for women to be given all of the information they needed prior to a potential abortion, including information related to its risks, and the other options that may be available to pregnant women.
During the debate, Nadine stated:
“Abortion in this country is an industry from which a small number of organisations and individuals make vast amounts of money. No sensible person would condone this. In examining the legislative abortion procedures of European countries with far lower numbers than ours, it occurred to me that for those countries in which informed consent before an abortion takes place is enshrined in law - Germany, France, Belgium, Finland and others - the abortion rate was much lower .... it also appears to me that in those countries, the abortion procedure is a far kinder one, which takes much more account of the vulnerable position a woman might be in at the time of her request for an abortion and provides her with alternatives to consider and a cooling-down time in order to think, breathe and take stock of what is happening.”
“In this country, if a woman requests a termination from her GP, no questions are asked .... a referral is made to a hospital or clinic and the abortion is performed, for the woman's sake, as quickly as possible and without fuss.”
“Minimal counselling or no counselling is provided in some NHS hospitals and some clinics. Minimal counselling is provided by BPAS-the British Pregnancy Advisory Service-which carries out a large number of abortions on behalf of the NHS.”
“A woman has an assumed right to choose. However, she apparently has no right whatever to any information on which to make that choice. If any of us were referred to a hospital today for a minor procedure such as an operation for an in-growing toenail, the procedure would be explained to us in detail. We would be made aware of the level of pain we might experience; we would be told exactly what would happen while we were under the anaesthetic; we would be given follow-up appointments to check on the progress of our healing; we would have our dressings changed and have checks for infection. A woman who has an abortion has none of that.”
“At the end of the day, the woman is discharged out onto the street and left to come to terms with the rollercoaster emotional journey of which she will still be in the midst. Before the woman received the procedure, she might have felt coerced, pressurised or bullied into the abortion.”
Nadine mentioned a 30-year survey published in The British Journal of Psychiatry in 2008 which showed clearly that women who had had abortions had rates of mental disorder 30% higher than women who had not. The Royal College of Psychiatrists recommended that:
“Healthcare professionals who assess or refer women who are requesting an abortion should assess for mental health disorder and for risk factors that may be associated with its subsequent development.”
Currently this does not happen - no consideration is taken of the state of a mother's mental health when asking for an abortion.
Nadine also mentioned the recent ComRes poll findings during the debate, which revealed that 89% of people believe that women should receive more detailed information before undertaking an abortion.
“Women are entitled to an option. They are entitled to give informed consent, which should be explicitly supported by pro-choice and pro-life campaigners. When it comes to a decision of such magnitude, it is vital for women to receive information that is absolutely accurate and is given calmly, without coercion or a principled bias and, in particular, without political ideology.”
Forsaken
During the debate Nadine mentioned a book called ‘Forsaken – Women from Taunton Talk About Abortion’. The book is published by the charity Forsaken, and contains harrowing stories of women suffering from post-abortion syndrome. It was written by Angela Coakes and her friends who have been working with women with post-abortion syndrome in Taunton.
Nadine told those present at the debate:
“One woman in the book describes how even when she told the anaesthetist that she was changing her mind and was having doubts, he pushed her to go ahead. He did so because, if she changed her mind, he would not have been paid. There is the same process as for the counselling. If the woman does not go ahead with the abortion, the clinics are not paid for the counselling, and therefore they need to know that she is going ahead before she is given the counselling-and we can imagine the process that ensues.
Nadine concluded by reading a paragraph from the book, giving a young girl's account:
"An uncle dropped me off at the clinic with a letter to give to them. I don't know what that letter was. At this point, I was holding onto the thought that they were only checking me. The staff at the clinic were very nice there, seemingly courteous and kind. It was not my usual surgery, I did not realise it was an abortion clinic until I was shown into a counsellor's room. When I went to the counsellor's room, I was asked: 'Why don't you want to keep this pregnancy?'
'I want it but my family don't want it,' I replied, and promptly burst into tears. 'They won't support me and I can't look after it myself.'
Nothing more was said that I remember...I was given a bed-there must have been 20 of us crowded into that ward. I was the first in line. As I waited, I scanned the corridors for some means of escape, but I was already wearing my hospital gown and no underwear. It wasn't long before a man brought a wheelchair to take me to the operating theatre. For a brief moment I wondered if I had the strength to run away, but instead I sat obediently into the chair."
Nadine stated: “That is a story of loneliness, suffering, emptiness and loss that many thousands of women live with day after day. It is they who become the 30%.”
Further Information
You can listen to the adjournment debate here or alternatively read the debate in Hansard here (scroll down to column 896).
Copies of the ‘Forsaken’ book can be purchased from Christian Concern for £5. Please call our office on 020 7935 1488.
Further information about the ComRes poll can be found here.
A group of Consultant Psychiatrists have written to The Daily Telegraph welcoming the Parliamentary Debate on 'Informed Consent' which can be read here (NB part-way down the page).
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