A series of unannounced raids on abortion clinics this week has revealed that a “shocking” number are flouting abortion laws and offering abortion on demand.
Following an undercover report by the Daily Telegraph last month, the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley ordered the raids on more than 250 private and NHS clinics.
The Care Quality Commission discovered that 50 clinics were flouting the law. Doctors were regularly falsifying consent forms and patients were not receiving acceptable levels of advice and counselling.
The Health Secretary said that he was “shocked” by the findings of the raid.
“I was appalled,” he said. “Because if it happens, it is pretty much people engaging in a culture of both ignoring the law and trying to give themselves the right to say that although Parliament may have said this, we believe in abortion on demand.”
Many of the clinics will now face police inquiries and some may be stripped of the licences that allow them to offer abortions.
Pre-signed consent forms
The raid discovered piles of “pre-signed” consent forms, breaking laws which require the signatures of both the supervising consultant and a second professional who has either seen the patient or read the medical notes and the summary of a consultation. Pre-signing such forms is a criminal offence and could lead to doctors being struck off by the General Medical Council.
“To pre-sign certificates when you don’t even know which woman it relates to and there hasn’t been an assessment, is completely contrary to the spirit and letter of the law,” Mr Lansley said.
Gender based abortions
The Daily Telegraph investigation had also found that many clinics were offering sex-selective abortions.
In one instance, a woman was booked in for an abortion after telling a Manchester consultant, Prabha Sivaraman, that she didn’t want the baby because it was a girl.
Miss Sivaraman, who works for Pall Mall Medical in Manchester, responded by saying; “I don’t ask questions. If you want a termination, you want a termination.”
She later told a colleague that the abortion was “for social reasons” and that the woman “didn’t want any questions asked.”
Call to change Abortion Act
Conservative MP Nadine Dorries has suggested that the Abortion Act 1967 needs changing as it is “a badly drafted piece of legislation”.
Under the Act, abortion is illegal unless is falls within certain exemptions. Under Grounds C, which is the exemption most often used, abortion may only be performed if continuing the pregnancy puts the mother’s (or her existing children’s) mental and physical health at greater risk than if she has an abortion.
Yet critics have claimed that there is little evidence to suggest that this is a correct assumption in most cases. Ms Dorries said:
“When agreeing to an abortion two doctors have to sign a statutory document to comply with the wording of the Act, ‘in good faith’. Some would argue that on that basis, almost every abortion which takes place in the UK is illegal.
“Do doctors really believe ‘in good faith’ that every abortion they carry out meets the criteria of the Act and more importantly, complete statutory documents to that effect?"
Comment
Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said:
“Parliament never intended abortion to be available on demand, and neither did it expect that almost 200,000 abortions would be taking place every year as a result of the Abortion Act.
“These raids show that many abortion clinics have a total contempt for the law, routinely breaking regulations, failing to offer proper advice to women and effectively offering abortion on demand.
“This is all despite abortion being illegal in this country unless it falls within specific exemptions. These exemptions however are routinely abused, leading to the loss of life and also huge harm to the women involved.
"There has never been a better time to continue to expose the ruthlessness of the abortion industry so that women and unborn children are protected."
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