The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has become the third British medical organisation to back the decriminalisation of abortion, arguing instead it should be treated as a medical issue. The College represents the group of doctors who provide the majority of abortion services in England, Scotland and Wales.
Currently in Britain, under the Abortion Act 1967, it is illegal to have a termination without the approval of two doctors and, for instance, a woman buying abortion pills online could face a prison sentence. The British Medical Association and the Royal College of Midwives have already called for changes to the law.
The RCOG said forty-five members of its governing Council “voiced a broad range of views during an informed and considered debate.” Ten thousand members had been invited to share their views on the matter, but the RCOG was unable to provide a breakdown of the level of feedback the Council considered, nor the breakdown of the vote, apart from saying the Council voted “strongly in favour of removing criminal sanctions.”
The College stated it was “not calling for any change in gestational limits for abortion which should remain in place through the appropriate regulatory and legislative process.“ The current limit is 24 weeks.
However in an open letter to the president of the RCOG, Professor Lesley Regan, more than 600 doctors, including some who do not belong to the RCOG, condemned what they described as the “completely unacceptable” way that the majority of members weren’t given a vote.
Professor Regan, said this “formal position on decriminalisation” is “another example of the RCOG standing up for the rights of women and girls on the issue of abortion”. She added that it will now “enable the College to usefully contribute to the debate surrounding what a post decriminalisation landscape might look like”.
The pro-life charity Life criticised the “extreme position” taken by the RCOG. A spokeswoman said: “If measures voted through were to be implemented and all legal sanctions associated with abortion were removed, there would be no law stopping abortion up to the seventh month of pregnancy, and potentially up to birth if the Infant Life Preservation Act was scrapped also.”
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