News

NHS reforms limit choice

Abortion services in many part, of the country are under pressure as a result of the current NHS reforms, warns the Pro-Choice Alliance, an umbrella group campaigning for easier access for women to early abortion.

The Alliance, which has recently written to over 140 health authorities about local abortion services, believes that many districts are cutting back on their services because of the requirement to be within budget by April 1991.

Jane Roe, co-ordinator of the Alliance, cited examples of London hospitals limiting admissions to women living locally, and of abortion counsellors spending hours on the telephone trying to book women into beds.

’We would like to see abortion on request in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy’, she said, ‘but there is no point in having more liberal laws if you don’t have the services to match.’

In 1988, 53% of women paid for their abortion. The proportion of abortions performed within the NHS varies widely across the country, with the national average at 50%, but in some districts as few as 10% of abortions for local women are provided by the health service.

’We would prefer all abortions to be within the NHS, but we recognise that is not feasible in current circumstances’, said Ms Roe. ‘We also realise that women may often get a more sympathetic service in the charitable sector than the NHS.’

Concern was expressed by some of the districts replying to the Alliance’s survey that the demand for abortion services was continuing to rise. As yet, there is no clear evidence that this reflects the widespread cuts in family planning services, but many pro-choice campaigners remain convinced that this is the case.