A new poll has found that nine out of 10 women believe that doctors should see a woman face-to-face before approving a request for an abortion.
Guidelines
It follows the recent publication of draft guidelines by the Department of Health proposing to allow doctors in independent sector places, such as BPAS, to authorise abortions without examining the mother in person.
The guidance claims that whilst it is “good practice” for at least one doctor to see a woman requesting an abortion, this is “not a legal requirement”.
The 1967 Abortion Act states that for an abortion to go-ahead, two doctors must agree in good faith that a request for the procedure meets at least one of the grounds set out in the Act.
Criticism
Critics of the proposed new guidelines argue that doctors can only reach this opinion in ‘good faith’ if they have examined the patient in person.
The poll, commissioned by the Christian Institute, found that whilst both men and women were of the opinion that women seeking an abortion should “always” be examined by a qualified doctor, women held this view more strongly than men.
It also revealed widespread concerns that liberalising abortion laws by removing the need for face-to-face contact with women will place their health at risk.
ComRes poll
The poll of more than 2,000 people by ComRes found that 89 per cent agree that “a woman requesting an abortion should always be seen in person by a qualified doctor”.
Support for the statement was greater among women (92 per cent) than men (85 per cent).
Just over three quarters also thought that excluding doctors from the process of face-to-face contact would endanger the health of women, with 73 per cent of men agreeing but 78 per cent of women.
Meanwhile 84 per cent of men and 88 per cent of women said that there should be an explicit ban on sex-selective abortions .
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