Doctors wake up to horror of abortion

Moral revolt against killing unborn children prompts reports of a crisis in NHS provision, reports Freddy Gray
RISING NUMBERS of doctors am refusing to kill unborn children, prompting a crisis in NHS abortion provision, according to a leading medical college.
The unprecedented moral revolt means that soon there may not be enough doctors to carry out sufficient abortions to meet public demand, says a report by Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).
Ethical opposition to abortion within the NHS is thought to have contributed to a doubling of "terminations" carried out by private clinics, Katherine Guthrie, a spokeswoman on family planning for the RCOG, said: "You get no thanks for performing abortions. You get spat on. Who admits to friends at a dinner party that they are an abortionist?
"There is an increasing number of young doctors who are not participating in training. The Department of Health is really worried."
But Catholics and pro-life activists are delighted by the latest development.
"We welcome this news," said Julia Millington of the Alive and Kicking Campaign group which aims to halve the number of British abortions in the near future. "We have been hearing for some time now that young doctors, in particular, do not want to work in this field. Those choosing to go into medicine presumably do so because they want to cure sickness and disease, not end the lives of innocent human beings."
Paul Damon, of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, had little sympathy for doctors who feel socially excluded because they carry out abortions. "We should feel sorry for the hundreds of thousands of killed unborn children who have never been given a chance to breathe.
"It is good if people are now appreciating the horror of abortion, and it is especially good if the medical profes sion is waking up to the reality."
The number of abortions in Britain currently stands at a record 190,000 a year.
But refusals by public health doctors mean that the NHS is having to pay private hospitals to carry out the procedures.
The percentage of abortions carried out in private hospitals has doubled from 20 per cent in 1997 to almost 40 per cent today.
No figures exist to show exactly how many doctors are refusing to cant' out abortions. However, the RCOG insists the number is rising sharply.
Richard Warren, honorary secretary of the RCOG, said: "In the past, abortion was an accepted part of the workload. People did not like it but they accepted it was in the best interests of the woman concerned. Now we are seeing more doctors who are reluctant to be involved in the process."
Dr James Gerrard, a GP in Leeds who refuses to refer patients for abortions, said: "Out of the six doctors in our practice, three of us object to abortion. I had made up my mind on abortion before entering the medical profession. I feel the foetus is a person and killing that foetus is wrong."
"Termination", as abortion is often called, is legal for "social" reasons on babies up to 24 weeks old.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "This is an issue we will be discussing with the RCOG."
It is increasingly accepted by the public that the current Abortion Act needs revising to limit the number of late abortions. In a recent survey, only 27 per cent of those questioned believed that the current 24-week legal limit for tennination should be retained.