Doctors vote on lifting 24-week abortion limit

DOCTORS are to vote on whether to abolish the time limit on abortions.

Up to 500 GPs and hospital doctors will debate decriminalisation during a major conference at the end of the month.

It could lead to a call for women to be allowed to terminate their pregnancy right up to the due date – and for any reason.

The existing time limit is 24 weeks from conception. Even then, two doctors must agree that continuing the pregnancy would be harmful for either the woman or the unborn child.

Some claim that the restrictions, which date back 50 years, encourage women to take matters into their own hands in buying illegal abortion pills online.

The vote will take place at the British Medical Association’s annual meeting, which begins in Bournemouth next weekend.

The fact the issue is being debated at length by such a powerful body reflects a shift in opinion among medical professionals and the public.

Last year, the Royal College of Midwives launched a campaign to decriminalise abortions to give women more choice and control over their bodies.

In March, the issue was debated in Parliament during a private member’s Bill put forward by a Labour MP. The majority of MPs voted for decriminalisation but the Bill did not reach the next stage because Parliament was dissolved for the election.

The BMA represents two thirds of Britain’s 281,000 doctors and acts as their trade union. The debate is expected to be the most highly charged of the four-day conference. It will take place at the end of a special session to discuss the issue, which is scheduled for June 27.

If most are in favour of decriminalising abortion, the BMA will adopt it as policy and lobby for a change in the law.

The vote has been put forward by the body’s City and Hackney division in East London, led by GP and Labour activist Dr Coral Jones. It has the backing of several of the BMA’s most senior members including Professor Wendy Savage, who sits on the ethics committee. But others fear a law change will pave the way for abortion on demand.

To prepare for the vote, doctors have been instructed to read a 52-page discussion paper which sets out both sides.

Figures show that 190,406 abortions were carried out in England and Wales in 2016, a fall on the previous year. But there has been a rise in abortions among women over 30.

A BMA spokesman said: ‘We appreciate that this is a sensitive and complex issue.’