Ministers back anti-abortion lobby reforms

From The Guardian UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/28/anti-abortion-lobby-reforms

Charities warn of 'distress and delay' as they are stripped of principal responsibility to counsel women seeking a termination

Polly Curtis
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 28 August 2011

The government has caved in to calls from anti-abortionists to overhaul existing protocols and strip charities and medics of their exclusive responsibility for counselling women seeking to terminate a pregnancy.

The Department of Health confirmed that it would change the rules to ensure that women are also offered counselling "independently" of existing abortion services. Its announcement was made in advance of an attempt next week led by the Tory backbencher Nadine Dorries to amend the health and social care bill to force such a requirement. Dorries says that the charity-run abortion services – including the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and Marie Stopes – have a financial conflict of interest in advising women seeking terminations. She says that by offering independent counselling, 60,000 of the 200,000 abortions each year could be prevented.

The charities say that another layer of counselling could cause distress by delaying access to abortions. They also say that the counselling they offer is continuous throughout the process of seeking a termination and that there is no evidence they are biased in the care they provide.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the government's decision was based on prejudice rather than evidence.

The DH confirmed that it wanted to change the rules to offer women independent counselling in addition to that currently offered by abortion services and said it was consulting on the precise method to use, with sources acknowledging that it was a direct response to lobbying from backbenchers.

An aide to the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, said: "We remain of the view that we can do this without legislation but we aren't shying away from a parliamentary debate. We want women to have the offer of independent counselling, independent of the abortion provider.

Continue reading at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/28/anti-abortion-lobby-reforms