Share your story

I was 21 staring at a positive test, knowing that even if I moved mountains there was no way I could make it work.

I exercised my right to access healthcare. I was 5 weeks pregnant when I received my care, delivered with total respect and empathy from the provider. I was supported in my decision and encouraged to look to the future that this decision was giving me.

Having an abortion saved my life. My decision will enable me to be a better parent when I choose to be one. I’m sharing my positive story because the care I received should be the standard, yet I feel that mine was the exception to the rule. The Abortion Act 1967 is outdated and furthering the barriers and stigma to accessing safe abortions for those who need them.

Having an abortion made me even more pro choice and I hope that one day I live in a Scotland where everyone in my situation receives the support I was fortunate enough to get

A lot of fear was created for health professionals after the 2012 CQC inspections [in England] in which the health secretary and others were talking about arresting doctors and referring them to the General Medical Council for the 'criminal offense' of pre-signing abortion forms. The current climate of prosecutions is also adding to a climate of fear for many abortion care providers.

Decriminalisation of abortion is needed to address this – staff should not be expected to provide care in these circumstances.

Meanwhile there is rising demand for abortions, across services that are not yet back to full capacity after the pandemic. The current unnecessary protocols, as set out in the Abortion Act, are exacerbating resource and capacity issues in Scotland.

A niche part of the abortion law, Section 60 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 [the equivalent law in England and Wales] has its origins in a law from 1623, over 100 years before the last woman was burnt alive at the stake. This has had some of the most damaging and oppressive impacts on women, including banning them from having contact with [their] children.

Current abortion legislation is outdated and was designed to protect patients in a time when surgical techniques were less advanced and when medical abortion had not yet been invented.

Services work hard to ensure that patients are largely shielded from the administrative burden of the Abortion Act but adequate staffing to ensure two signatures from doctors are available who have reviewed their clinical notes (in addition to qualified nursing/midwifery staff), can be a strain on services particularly in remote and rural settings.

The way we treat abortion medicolegally, exceptionalises it and forces us to treat patients and their pregnancies differently from other types of pregnancy. This creates a false dichotomy between abortion care and miscarriage care, when the treatments are the same, and ultimately the patients are the same people at different times in their lives.

The Scottish Abortion Care Providers support decriminalisation of abortion in Scotland. There is no medical reason to require two doctors to sign a form to support a request for abortion and no reason to prevent other appropriately trained individuals from providing abortion care.

The current situation is out of step with other countries and with modern views on an individual's autonomy and multidisciplinary healthcare provision. Services have become adept at minimising the effect of the current requirements on service delivery. However, the impact may be greatest in remote areas or small scale services.

The exceptionalisation of abortion – treating it differently to all other health treatments – creates stigma around what is essential healthcare. This may delay treatment which may then reduce the choice of abortion method and increase the risk of complications. A move to robust regulation – as for other areas of healthcare – would support safe service provision and facilitate improved abortion care in Scotland.

Recent cases in the media have raised suspicions when women present with a later pregnancy loss. Instead of clinical staff focusing on care and support for the woman, they can be uncertain if they must report a potential crime.

If women think staff may report them to the police, they may delay or avoid seeking medical care.

We fully support the decriminalisation of abortion care in Scotland and across the UK. Abortion care is an essential part of healthcare. It is highly regulated and should be subject solely to appropriate professional standards, in line with any other area of healthcare, not criminal sanctions.

The removal of criminal sanctions associated with abortion will help to remove stigma and fear and reiterate to women that they have the right to control their own sexual and reproductive health choices. Prosecuting a woman for ending her pregnancy will never be in the public interest, it merely causes harm to women (many of whom will be in vulnerable circumstances), their families and wider society.

We call on governments and politicians to urgently look to reform our current out-dated abortion laws, recognising that abortion is an essential form of healthcare. It’s time to listen to what the public want.