MPs table amendments to make it easier to obtain early abortions

doi:10.1136/bmj.a760

Published 10 July 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a760
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a760

News

MPs table amendments to make it easier to obtain early abortions

Clare Dyer

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Pro-choice MPs have tabled amendments to the Human Fertilisationand Embryology Bill to make it easier for women to get abortionsearlier.

The proposals, to be debated at the bill’s Commons’report stage on 14 July, include lowering the number of doctorsneeded to approve an abortion from two to one, allowing qualifiednurses to perform terminations, and letting women who are havingearly medical abortions take the drug misoprostol at home.

The amendments, which are certain to be opposed by pro-lifeMPs, are being put forward by a cross party group that includesLabour’s former health secretary Frank Dobson, Tory frontbencherJacqui Lait, and the Liberal Democrat science spokesman EvanHarris.

Most are based on recommendations made last year by the Commons’science and technology committee. If successful, they will bethe first changes to the 1967 Abortion Act since 1990, whenthe 28 week maximum gestation period for . . . [Full text of this article]

Add to CiteULike CiteULike Add to Complore Complore Add to Connotea Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us Add to Digg Digg Add to Reddit Reddit Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon Add to Technorati Technorati What's this?