HEALTH: Is the Department of Health failing women seeking information on abortion services?
Flavia Gouveia
Since the decriminalisation of abortion in October 2019, there has been a continued lack of clarity on the status of and how to access abortion services in Northern Ireland. Pro-Choice campaigners are concerned that this can lead to the spread of misinformation and act as a barrier to accessing abortion services.
Difficulty in accessing reliable information regarding abortion services in Northern Ireland has manifested itself in young people reaching out to anonymous advice pages, like QUB Love and UU Love, for information and support. But campaigners are concerned that these forums contribute to the ongoing stigmatisation of abortion and the spread of misinformation.
Speaking about this QUBSU Officer for Welfare, Bethany Moore, said that it is “disgraceful that it has been left to anonymous social media and anonymous message boards” to provide guidance to young people seeking advice.
Several of these posts where advice was requested descend into lengthy debates on abortion and disinformation, including the signposting of organisations that do not provide abortion services and are in fact anti-abortion.
Bethany Moore said this is “someone asking for help to access healthcare” adding that these posts not an appropriate place “for people to come and share their opinions.”
“If someone was looking for help accessing another form of healthcare, there would be no stigmatizing comments made. Unfortunately, those rules do not seem to apply when it comes to someone seeking an abortion,” she added.
Amy Merron, Chairperson of the Ulster University Pro-Choice Society, highlighted those posts have at times received comments suggesting that the poster “shouldn’t have an abortion which isn’t just unhelpful but also perpetuates a myth that people aren’t able to make their own decisions about what is right for them.”
Bethany highlights that these concerns are not an attempt to stifle debate around this issue, rather the focus is on “enforcing mechanisms that are empathetic to someone who is struggling to access the care they need and helping to minimise any trauma.”
Pro-choice campaigners have highlighted that the ongoing situation acts as a barrier and helps to contribute to the ongoing stigmatisation of abortion. Despite being legalised in October 2019; the Department of Health is yet to fully commission abortion services and does not provide any centralised information on services currently available. The lack of information means that people looking to access services may be directed to ‘rogue clinics’ that may misrepresent themselves as pro-choice.
Until recently one of the top results of a Google search for ‘abortion services Belfast’ was Stanton Healthcare, a clinic that has been criticised in the past for some of its tactics. Stanton Healthcare has been accused of referring women for unnecessary ultrasounds as a means of delaying the process, and in extreme cases misleading women about the stage of their pregnancy. Both these tactics can result in delays ruling out abortion as an option entirely or introducing additional barriers, like travel to England to access services.
Precious Life and Stanton Healthcare are two of the main organisations allegedly involved in these tactics and were recently also involved in promoting an abortion reversion pill which has been proven to have no scientific basis and to be dangerous.
Currently, abortions are available for up to 9 weeks and 6 days in Northern Ireland, however, services have not been fully commissioned. The provision of services varies between the Health Trusts, who are working to provide services without additional funding or guidance from the Department of Health. The current provision of services is inconsistent amongst the Health Trusts, resulting in the availability of services coming down to a ‘post-code lottery.’
Naomi Connor, Alliance for Choice, hailed the efforts of healthcare workers working to provide a service without additional guidance or support from the Department of Health. Ms. Connor said that the current situation means that the “system is anti-choice,” adding that “the Department of Health has failed women in their refusal to publish information [on abortion services].” She added that the current situation in Poland highlights the need for continued vigilance and campaigning to combat the stigma associated with abortion.
Ms. Connor added that Stanton Healthcare is misleading the public by labelling themselves as a healthcare organisation and by not explicitly stating that they do not provide abortion services and advice on their website.
Both the QUB and UU student unions are pro-choice and can signpost students to the information available. However, Amy Merron added that to “remove all the barriers that students face it’s important that services are commissioned in full to remove this postcode lottery to reproductive healthcare.”
The Department of Health was approached for comment and said:
“Information about available health services, and how members of the public can access them, is available on each Health and Social Care Trust website. This includes information about abortion services. Women in Northern Ireland requiring advice, information, counselling or access to treatment services are currently advised to contact the central advice and referral service provided by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service.
The commissioning of abortion services requires agreement by the Northern Ireland Executive, under the terms of the Ministerial Code.
Notwithstanding the current absence of an Executive, the Department of Health is leading work with health service commissioners and providers to develop a draft commissioning specification in line with the Secretary of State’s deadline of 31 March 2022, as set out in the Abortion Services Directions 2021.
Following the introduction of the Abortion (NI) (No.2) Regulations, and pending the commissioning of these services, limited abortion services were put in place by Health and Social Care Trusts starting from April 2020.”
If you need information on abortion services and support, the following organisations provide impartial advice:
British Pregnancy Advisory Service
Website: https://www.bpas.org
Tel: 03457 30 40 30
Informing Choices NI
Website: https://informingchoicesni.org
Alliance for Choice
Website: https://www.alliance4choice.com
Flavia Gouveia is host of The Eco Scoop and a Liberal Arts student at Queen’s University Belfast.