CHANGES THAT could give women considering abortion a right to independent counselling are moving ahead – despite ministers backing down last year amid infighting within the Coalition.
The Department of Health (DOH) has drawn up plans to reform radically the assistance given to thousands of women with crisis pregnancies.
Among them is a proposal to place abortion providers under a legal obligation to offer women access to independent counselling, stripping them from providing any “inhouse” service. Critics of the existing system say the counselling offered by the clinics is biased, because their state funding depends on the number of terminations they carry out.
The services deny bias – and say that sending women elsewhere could delay the process, meaning that for some a decision to end a pregnancy could come too late.
Last September, attempts in Parliament to introduce such a change failed, amid clashes between pro-choice and prolife campaigners and within the Coalition.
The Government had initially indicated support for the amendment, tabled by backbench Conservative MP Nadine Dorries. But days before the vote, Downing Street said David Cameron would not back it.
The Liberal Democrats took credit for the apparent change of stance, with party sources saying leader Nick Clegg had “made plain” his opposition.
Since then, Anne Milton, the health minister, has been working with DOH civil servants behind the scenes on plans to alter the system.
Draft proposals seen by The Sunday Telegraph set out three options.
The most radical change would see abortion clinics, such as those run by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and Marie Stopes International, barred from providing counselling, and under a legal duty to refer women seeking it to an independent service – as in Mrs Dorries’s amendment.
A second option is for a “voluntary registration” system, meaning any organisation offering counselling would have to meet minimum standards and only use appropriately trained counsellors.
A cross-party group of MPS which has held secret talks over the proposals has become deeply divided about whether organisations running such services should be required to declare any ethical stance, such as holding pro-life beliefs.
A third option, to retain the current position, is detailed in the DOH policy paper, despite acknowledgement that it would mean a “postcode lottery” remained in the standards of care available.
Ministers are braced for fierce debate over the proposals, which are due to form a Department of Health consultation starting next month.
Last night Mrs Dorries, who is on the cross-party group of MPS, said that the position reached was “an absolute victory for women” and that independent counselling would mean more support for the most vulnerable.
She said: “For thousands of vulnerable women, the abortion decision is taken when overwhelming practical pressure meets emotional turmoil and this is why independent counselling is so important – as it is this group of women who will probably accept it.”
Last August, The Sunday Telegraph disclosed the Government’s plans to consult on independent counselling, just before a Commons vote on an amendment by Mrs Dorries.
Initially, the Government indicated support for the MP’S proposal – but this was withdrawn the week before the vote following a backlash from pro-choice campaigners, abortion clinics, and Lib Dems, including Mr Clegg.
Although votes on abortion are always treated as a matter of individual conscience, and subject to a free vote, pressure was then heaped on Coalition MPS to follow their leaders.
In an unprecedented step, Mrs Milton wrote to them days before the free vote, advising them that no health minister would back the amendment. The vote on the amendment was lost by 118 votes to 368.
Ann Furedi, the chief executive of BPAS, said she was “appalled” to hear about the options being drawn up, and stated that she had been given repeated assurances from the DOH that abortion clinics would not be barred from providing counselling.
On Friday, advertising watchdogs decided to allow commercial abortion clinics to promote their services on television and radio.
The plans, disclosed by The Sunday Telegraph last July, have been met with fury by pro-life campaigners.
A spokesman for the DOH said: “Work is under way to develop proposals so women can access independent counselling but no decisions have yet been taken.”