Anti-choice counselling plans: what’s the latest? – Abortion Rights

Briefing update from Abortion Rights

The proposals to introduce new counselling arrangements for women seeking abortion are moving ahead – but exactly how the government plans to proceed is unclear at the moment.

For those who aren’t familiar with the situation, in March, Nadine Dorries MP and Frank Field MP tabled amendments [1] to the Health and Social Care (HSC) bill which would require GPs to provide ‘independent advice and counselling’ to women seeking abortion – stripping abortion providers of this responsibility and opening the door for anti-choice organisations to become involved in counselling women with unplanned pregnancies.

We now know that the final stages of the HSC bill [2] will be heard in Parliament on 6th and 7th September. If the Dorries/Field amendment is selected by the Speaker it will be debated and voted on then.

However, it was recently announced [3] that the Department of Health believes that it does not even need this new legislation to implement these proposals. Public Health Minister Anne Milton has stated [4] that it will be possible to proceed via regulatory change. At present the DoH is ‘drawing up proposals’ to put the counselling changes into practice and will be consulting on them later in the year.

So it seems that whether the plans are heard in Parliament or not, the government is keen to press ahead with these damaging changes.

The 6-7th September is the first key date though and over the next few weeks we will be asking even more of our supporters to write to their MP and make them aware of the looming threat (we’ll be putting an ‘Email your MP’ tool up on our website soon).

Many thanks to all of you who have already written to your MP and to Anne Milton and the Department of Health expressing your concerns – and for passing on their responses to us. It’s been hugely helpful. Please keep the pressure on – here’s our model letter, [5] or you can email [6] Anne Milton at the Department of Health.

Abortion Rights is meeting with and contacting MPs from all parties, raising awareness of the issue and urging them to oppose the changes. We’ll keep you regularly updated on our progress.

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Posted 1 August, 2011 (13:42) | Notices |