TESSA Jowell, Labour Minister for Health, has rebuked the Chief Executive of the Marie Stopes Clinic for suggesting that quick abortions could now be performed 'during a working woman's lunch break'.
The real problem with abortion is not how fast the operation can be performed but how long it actually takes to get on the NHS.
The waiting time in the NHS in South London for example is currently five weeks for a scan to confirm dates, with the abortion performed some days after this. As a result many women 'choose' to have their abortion within days in the private "charity' sector.
An abortion under 14 weeks costs about £350 with an organisation like Marie Stopes. The abortion pill, RU486 costs more because, unlike in other European countries, where it is treated as a normal prescription, three visits to a clinic are required. The cost of abortion rises to £550 with the number of weeks gestation.
Consultants for Marie Stopes say they are seeing many more women than in the past and this can only be because of cutbacks in the NHS. Women who attend private clinics are not typical clients of private medicine.
They have been forced into private abortion because of the waiting time on the NHS.
Tessa Jowell was quoted as saying "the decision to seek a termination is a difficult and almost always agonizing one for any woman".
For some women it is. For many others, abortion is a weicome relief. This can itself force women to feel guilty as there is social pressure to feel that abortion should be a difficult choice.
For women who are unclear about their decision a waiting time before an abortion can provide a space to think But this waiting time should be a choice.
For women who have made a clear decision to have an abortion a wait can be traumatic: five weeks during which the woman's body changes to adjust to the pregnancy and after which the operation can only be more of a physical shock and one which is more risky.
For some women who bare ir. regular periods, for example be cause they are very young of menopausal, five weeks could mean the difference bermeea! beine entitled to a legal abortion or sor For momen bartion after rape, a five meck wait maay in. crease psychological trauma.
Tessa Jowell should be concestrating her energies on ensuring the NHS meets women's demands for free, safe and legal abortions not criticising doctors who wish to make the procedure easier for