Late abortions should not be reported to police, medics urged
Medics have been told not to report women to the police over late abortions in new Royal College guidance.
Leaders are calling for an end to “deeply traumatised” women being prosecuted following an abortion after a recent increase in police investigations.
In the first official guidance of its kind, the Royal College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (RCOG) has said healthcare workers must justify disclosing patient data or “face potential fitness to practice proceedings”.
NHS staff can breach patient confidentiality rules to give information to the police about possible crimes but only if it is in the public interest.
However, RCOG said this was never the case regarding women who have abortions and need safeguarding.
The association said it was concerned about rising police investigations into abortions and pregnancy loss, and their effect on “especially vulnerable” patients.
The number of suspected illegal abortions registered by police forces in England and Wales was 29 in 2022, up from 16 in 2018.
In 2023, six women were prosecuted in England on suspicion of breaking abortion law, according to the RCOG, compared with just three in the previous 20 years.
Abortions must be performed by a registered medical practitioner within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy under current laws.
Law dates back to 1861
It is illegal to otherwise deliberately end a pregnancy under laws dating back to the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, which carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
Dr Jonathan Lord, RCOG’s medical director, said: “A law that was originally designed to protect a woman is now being used against her.
“We have witnessed life-changing harm to women and their wider families as a direct result of NHS staff reporting women suspected of crimes, and we just don’t think that would happen in other areas of healthcare.
“We deal with the most vulnerable groups who may be concerned about turning to regulated healthcare at all, and we need them to trust us,” he told the BBC.
He said some NHS staff had been “ignorant” about confidentiality rules and women who went on to be investigated were later in their pregnancy than they realised or had late miscarriages.
Carla Foster was jailed for procuring her own abortion in 2020, while Bethany Cox, from Teeside, was cleared of the same charge earlier this month.
RCOG said it would support an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to protect women from prosecution for having an abortion.
‘Devastating consequences’
British Pregnancy Advisory Service warned of the consequences of a culture of increased reporting.
A spokesman said: “It is too often the case that women who are ending up before the courts are ones who have had the police called on them by medical professionals they trusted.
“There are devastating consequences that come from a culture of increased reporting, police investigations and prosecutions that simply would not happen with any other medical procedure.
“The question must be asked – who benefits from subjecting women to lengthy and traumatic police investigations and threat of prosecution and prison time? Not police, not taxpayers, not politicians, and certainly not our women.”
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: “These exceptionally rare cases are complex and traumatic.
“We carefully consider the personal circumstances of those who end their pregnancy outside the legal parameters and address these as sensitively as possible.
“Our prosecutors have a duty to ensure that laws set by Parliament are properly considered and applied when making difficult charging decisions.”
