Or should GP surgery's not be allowed to advertise themselves as 'pro-life'?

I'd rather not have a GP secretly judging me with their beliefs. I'd rather know outright with a statement on their website like the OP showed so I know who to avoid.

All the posters claiming "well they shouldn't be NHS GPs" - why exactly? Everyone is entitled to their beliefs

Put simply, @Elseaknows, a belief is (or IMO should be) a private matter, and full access to female reproductive healthcare is an obvious public need

As said earlier, I've absolutely no issue with people's private beliefs and will always respect their right to hold them, but I don't feel it's acceptable for folk to use these to disadvantage someone else no matter what field they work in

Most people who have strong objections to all abortion also object to the MAP. Some also object to the IUD which sometimes prevents implantation of a fertilised egg.

Why is it “odd” he would be okay with contraception and the morning after pill?

I'd argue it possibly is discrimination under the equality act. You can't discriminate on the basis of belief...

Agree. I would register a complaint on these grounds tbh.

It's fine for doctors to be pro-life but not for an area to be pro-life. Otherwise it risks groups of GP surgeries in a small area all doing the same deliberately for religious reasons to control the local population.

I agree @RedToothBrush that NHS commissioners of GP services need to make sure people have access to the services that they need This is something for commissioners to look at.

There are far too few GPs however, as a result of long term poor planning by successive governments really. Its not like there is a ready supply of other GPs to contract with instead, which makes negotiations challenging for commissioners.

I had a previous GP which had conscious objectors. It made me feel uncomfortable and that they didn't respect women or care about women's health.

It was one of MANY reasons I wanted to change surgeries. They were known locally as having poor attitudes to women generally. Fuck knows why so many people put up with it.

The problem is that GP surgeries are catchment based and it's extremely difficult to get accepted by a GP surgery outside catchment. It's hard enough to get accepted to a surgery in some places where you DO live in catchment.

I ended up at one point without a GP because they were so bad and I refused to engage with them anymore (they were engaging in practices which have since been outlawed so it's not just me being oversensitive). It took me several years to get a place elsewhere.

So the poor women in that area are really screwed by this. And I don't think an advert like this is acceptable. It is acceptable for an individual doctor to be a conscious objector (even though I don't like it) but not to deliberately set up and establish a practice and then recruit on this basis which makes the entire area at the mercy of pro-lifers and DOES make it harder for women in that area to seek support they need.

Even if we were able to easily change surgeries, it would be better than this situation. This is the imposition of pro-life views on an entire community who don't have alternatives easily available.

This is appalling. And not ok.

Likely to include end of life care also, such as putting a DNR in place ( do not resuscitate)

My former GP is a pro life Dr but he would refer on fast tracking you he was honest with me when I said I was keeping my unplanned pregnancy and said he hated making those referrals but everyone has a choice it was only abortion he referred on he was happy with contraception and comfortable with the morning after pill oddly enough

I know.

I was responding to those who were arguing GPs should not be allowed to be pro-life as they are not providing full healthcare.

What does this mean though? People might well be theoretically anti abortion or anti IVF, morning after pill etc but find themselves in a situation where they end up choosing that anyway. Your doctor shouldn't be a bar to accessing healthcare.

@Honestlymade
"When healthcare involves deliberately ending human life, exemptions should apply."

They do. The doctor merely has to refer the patient to another HCP.

None of your other examples involve ending human life. See above my post on euthanasia and assisted suicide. If these were legal I don't believe medics should be forced to participate in this either. When healthcare involves deliberately ending human life, exemptions should apply.

Your anger should really be focussed on the PCT not the individual GPs. Its the PCT or local Health board or whatever is it called where you live who commission services and are responsible for ensuring access to services to the population.

I strongly disagree with this. I believe abortion must be available to women. But I also agree Drs should be able to opt out of providing this service. Allowing this is a reasonable recognition that this is not healthcare like other healthcare, as it uniquely involves the ending of a human life.

Just like I am staunchly in favour of euthanasia and assisted suicide and if these are ever made legal in the UK that will be a great day. However, I also strongly believe that Drs should be able to opt out as assisted suicide and euthanasia are not healthcare like other healthcare as they involve ending a human life.

I personally believe that assisting me to die at a time of my choosing is part of the healthcare package that I want from our healthcare service, but I also have a (non-religious) medic friend who strongly believes that that this is not part of healthcare. She sees it as separate and that medics should preserve, not end, life The system has to allow respect for both views.

Medics should not be required to facilitate the end of human life if this is against their principles.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I think the pro life notice is a clear indication that they won't sign an abortion referral form. Two medical practitioners have to sign a form permitting an abortion. Commonly a GP signs and the clinic providing the abortion service endorses.
If a GP is pro life, they won't want to sign the form endorsing. Being referred to a doctor who will is a simple matter. If you care to look at the guidelines this is allowed for.
I'm sorry if you think health care professionals shouldn't be allowed to hold this view but that's the law and abortion is facilitated by referring on.

That’s disgusting. What surgery is it? Don’t protect them!

That assumes you have a choice of surgeries and services, that the policy was in place before you joined and that the full implications were clearly explained - no proper reproductive services available.

The local area health trusts should not be giving tax payer funded contracts to businesses knowing they will not provide one of the most basic functions of that service.

Would they contract in GP businesses which refused deliver other aspects of basic primary care "on principle"? Perhaps psychiatric services, diabetic clinics, or vaccinations?

You’re right, it’s different. There’s a big difference between “we don’t perform this procedure” and “we don’t accept a patient who is a particular type of person.”

We're in a medium sized town but we only have two medical practices to choose from, and they are geographically overlapping but the one we aren't with only has one location in my part of town (and ours only has one location in the other part of town). It's quite a sprawling town so if you were in area A you'd be travelling 5 miles on rubbish buses to the nearest surgery of practice B, if A didn't offer abortion, rather than walking round the corner to practice A.

So in reality, people don't have a choice of which practice to go with, and usually you'd choose a practice as a child or young adult and only change if you move - you'd struggle to change practice in the 2 weeks or so leeway you might have between finding out you are pregnant and needing to be referred for an abortion.

I actually think its helpful. It means you know to avoid that surgery if you know you won't get the services you may need.

Yeah, I’ve heard of this. Easy to be pro life on a 6 figure salary having not faced learning your dc has a severely life limiting disability.

Nobody has stated an individual doctor or nurse should perform an abortion - that's a wild misdirection from the thread OP.

The point is that a taxpayer funded public health body is contracting out primary health care services to a business which refuses to provide a key component of primary health care - aka women's reproductive services based on NICE guidelines.

And frankly, if an HCP doesn't want to provide women's reproductive services then yes - I'd suggest they choose a speciality which doesn't require delivery of those services rather than take the business and refuse to provide them.

There are plenty of areas of medicine which don't require delivery of women's reproductive services. Its unethical to take the money for a service you intend to restrict or refuse to deliver.

Thank you. I don’t know what’s supposed to be so unbelievable about doctors sometimes pressuring women to have abortions - surely we don’t all believe that every doctor is a perfect model of ethical standards.