The 100-Year Life Health Education and Government
NHS staff have been given new guidance not to call police when a patient has an abortion, miscarriage or unexpected delivery.
The guidance follows a series of arrests and failed prosecutions for alleged illegal abortions under a Victorian-era law which has left women distressed, isolated and traumatised.
Commissioned by an abortion taskforce at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), the document says healthcare professionals should not provide information to the police if they are suspicious that a woman has sought to end her pregnancy “unless she has given explicit consent” or if it is “necessary to protect her safety or the safety of others”.
Six women have appeared in an English court in the last 12 months for illegally ending their pregnancies under the Offence Against the Person Act 1861, with two women scheduled to face trial later this year.
Last October, Tortoise reported that British police had requested forensic testing to detect the presence of abortion drugs in the urine, blood and placenta of women under investigation for an illegal abortion.
The new guidance states that NHS staff should not take “blood tests or other samples at the request of the police” unless sure that the patient has given fully informed consent or there is a court order instructing them to do so.
Dr Jonathan Lord, co-chair of the British Society of Abortion Care Providers told Tortoise last year he was aware of cases of blood tests being taken with the woman’s consent by NHS staff at the request of police, including, “when women knew they were innocent after suffering an unexpected premature delivery”.
In 2022, it was reported that a woman was arrested in hospital and subsequently held in police custody for 36 hours after an unexpected late-term stillbirth meant she required medical attention.
The RCOG and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) have previously stated “that it is never in the public interest to investigate a patient who is suspected of ending their own pregnancy”.
There are limited circumstances when there is a legal duty for healthcare workers to disclose personal or confidential information to the police, according to NHS guidance, including suspected terrorism or female genital mutilation.
The General Medical Council, which registers and licences doctors, states in the document that they consider that the general principles and standards “are consistent with its own professional standards”.
Dr Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “We firmly believe it is never in the public interest to investigate and prosecute women who have sought to end their own pregnancy. These women should be treated with care and compassion, without judgement or fear of imprisonment”.
Outdated, antiquated abortion laws mean women who have experienced unexplained pregnancy loss are also vulnerable to criminal investigation, and health professionals are placed under unacceptable and unwarranted scrutiny”.
Dr Sally Sheldon, a law professor at Bristol University who helped develop the guidance, told Tortoise: “This new guidance from the RCOG and other professional medical bodies is to be welcomed as a clear and timely reminder of the significance of the duty of confidentiality that all health professionals owe to their patients.”
A spokesperson for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the leading provider of abortion advice and treatment in the UK, said: “Women who come to healthcare providers for an abortion need to have trust that their privacy and confidentiality will be respected. But these women also need to have trust in medical professionals outside their abortion providers.
“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?”
The RCOG has voiced support for an amendment to the upcoming Criminal Justice Bill which would protect women from being prosecuted for an illegal abortion in England and Wales.
