April 27, 2024

Abortion is safer than having a baby, doctors say

Mumbai

Abortion advice raises concerns
abortion

The UK’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists plans to advise women that it is safer to have an abortion than to have a baby, prompting furious responses from abortion opponents. Its draft recommendation for healthcare professionals is that: “Women should be advised that abortion is generally safer than continuing a pregnancy to term.”

The RCOG will also take the position that women do not suffer any psychological harm from abortion. Until now, its position was that rates of psychiatric illness and self-harm are higher for women who have had an abortion, but there is no evidence that abortion itself was likely to cause psychological problems.

Such comparisons to help pregnant women decide whether to keep a child have never before existed in the UK. Prof Patricia Casey, a consultant psychiatrist and fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “The message this sends out is very worrying. There are more than 30 studies showing an association between psychological trauma and abortion.”

It must be stressed that these are only draft recommendations. An RCOG spokesman also specified that the comparison between the risks of abortion and pregnancy was for the benefit of women considering abortions, not for other pregnant women. Doctors would be told to use their own judgment about how much to tell their patients. ~ London Telegraph, Feb 26

Abortion is safer than having a baby, doctors say
Jared Yee
abortion

Latest posts by Mumbai (see all)

More Stories