GPs don’t have the resources to provide abortion pill service, says obstetrician
GPs should not be tasked with providing abortion pills because they do not have the resources, an obstetrician and gynaecologist has said.
Dr John Monaghan told Today with Seán O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1 yesterday that people have not ‘even begun to think about’ what’s needed if unrestricted abortion within 12 weeks is introduced.
The pro-life campaigner said GPs issuing the pills will have to purchase ultrasound equipment to see how far along a pregnancy is, and that the most recent such machine he bought cost €40,000.
‘GPs haven’t had an opportunity to fully think through what’s going to happen... in the context of this service being unexpectedly bounced out of the health service, hospital health service if you like, and into general practice.’
He said he will object to providing abortion pills on demand on conscientious grounds, and that referring a ‘perfectly healthy woman with a normal pregnancy’ to another doctor for an abortion is ‘ethically repugnant’. The Government policy paper published yesterday indicated GPs would be allowed to refuse to carry out terminations on grounds of conscientious objection.
However, Dr Mark Murphy GP, a member of Doctors for Choice, said ultrasounds do not have to take place in GP surgeries and can be done in Early Pregnancy Assessment Units. He told O’Rourke: ‘This isn’t going to be core general practice. GPs are out the door, they’re very, very busy… it’s not going to be for every general practice. But a significant, huge number would want to be involved.’
Health Minister Simon Harris assured GPs, last month, that they would be allowed to opt out of carrying out terminations if they objected on moral grounds.
The National Association of General Practitioners had said it was ‘outraged’ to hear the new abortion regime would be ‘a GP-led service’, without them being consulted on the matter.
President of the NAGP, Dr Emmet Kerin described the ‘growing disconnect’ of Minister Harris and the Department of Health from frontline GP staff as a ‘genuine concern’.
He said he was ‘alarmed to hear the minister’s comments’. adding: ‘General practitioners are dedicated to the health of their patients but feel that their work supporting the increasingly chaotic healthcare system receives no acknowledgment.’