NHS service failures leading to forced pregnancies

[NumberTheory]

Independent reporting that women are being forced to continue with unwanted pregnancies because of problems with access to contraception and abortion services.

Under investment in the NHS is just stacking problems on top of problems.

People need to take responsibility for their bodies

NHS needs to take responsibility for delivering the care it is tasked with delivering. That is literally its entire reason for existing.

When it fails to do so it should be condemned not excused.

We pay for the NHS. When it fails to deliver the care we need we have the right to complain.

Didn't BPAS make a case for the continued home delivery of the contraceptive or morning after pill because it had worked well during the lockdowns? Or am I imagining this?

You can still get pills through the post. I’ve just checked their website, it says you call to get a telephone consultation and medical assessment (not clear whether these are two separate calls) and then if it’s deemed safe for you to have them at home they post them out.

@RobotValkyrie

Also let's not forget that an abortion, as a medical procedure, can be life-saving, and continuing with a pregnacy, life-threatening, and at the very least life-altering. It's not just a matter of "inconvenience" or "lifestyle choices" or whatever other misogynistic minimising nonsense. Legal abortions in Great Britain are all about medical need.

Oh come off it. I have no wish at all to change the UK law on abortion but the reality is most abortions are for inconvenience or lifestyle choices.

Anyone got link to full article?

I would really like to read.

The vast majority of termination on NHS are vv early.

Delays are not good obv but doesn't equate automatically to have to have baby.

Why has this thread turned to the usual points on abortion threads? I'd like to read article and discuss.

Oh can read it now!

'Experts said the rise in the need for abortions is likely to be a combination of people socialising more now that lockdown has lifted, struggles to access contraception, and the precarious economic climate leaving people fearful of carrying on with pregnancies.'

Having read whole article my take is-

It's to support bpas desire to keep telemed for pills option.

Govt allowed for covid and looks like decision soonish on whether to let it continue.

Having to wait is obviously a bad thing all round. However that does not = forced pregnancy. A phrase that is close to forced birth and so imo is unnecessarily emotive.

The issues with long term contraception are still ongoing, not just early in the pandemic, our local surgery is still unable to remove a coil which is over a year past it's use by date. The wait for vasectomies is also long. Their current advice is use condoms and hope they don't split, or have anything else go wrong.

All women should have access to abortion, but even more important to have decent contraception, as most people would prefer to prevent pregnancy, rather than end an unwanted one.

I haven't needed to access abortion services, but I expect they are also having difficulty providing timely, adequate care.

@Mymapuddlington

Prevention is better than the cure 🤷‍♀️

What a helpful thing to say when we are talking about women who are already pregnant How embarrassing for you making that comment

I know a few women who ‘get caught up in the moment’ but don’t worry because they’ll ‘get rid’.

Oh do stop taking shit. No woman thinks "ah it's ok I can always have an abortion". Crawl back to 4chan please

Not looking like going to discuss the article then !

If condoms and morning after pills were used then the genuine women who have fallen pregnant despite precautions or due to rape etc can access safe abortions early and with the right support in place.

@Mymapuddlington ok then smarty pants riddle me this - how does that work practically?

Women presents at her GP requesting an abortion and says "I'm one of the genuine ones whose contraception failed". Or even "I'm pregnant because I was raped"How do we prove it?

Genuinely interested to know.

@ftw163532

People need to take responsibility for their bodies

NHS needs to take responsibility for delivering the care it is tasked with delivering. That is literally its entire reason for existing.

When it fails to do so it should be condemned not excused.

We pay for the NHS. When it fails to deliver the care we need we have the right to complain.

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

'People need to take responsibility for their bodies'

For Pregnancy then, men and women. Men can reduce their risk of impregnation by using condoms.

On the more general side of things, many issues are caused by or related to activities etc that people do.

A few are-
Smoking
Alcohol
Riding motorbikes
Playing sports like rugby
Going out to shops when pavements are icy
Horse riding
Etc etc.

The question of what things should be/ shouldn't be seen as 'only yourself to blame' is complex and fraught!

Interesting to see it invoked on this thread.

In terms of pregnancy. If a termination is wanted (within current laws). That is massively enormously cheaper not just for the NHS but a host of other things that children get eg schooling.

So the cost/ benefit issue it obvious really.

These threads always end up being about reckless callous thick women.

We're not going to discuss the actual article then?

I think reason for article is clear and not impressed by scaremongering for policy support.

@NiceGerbil

Not looking like going to discuss the article then !

It’s so depressing isn’t it?

Feminism board and so many posters just looking for a way to have a go at women who have sex.

@NiceGerbil

Having read whole article my take is-

It's to support bpas desire to keep telemed for pills option.

Govt allowed for covid and looks like decision soonish on whether to let it continue.

Having to wait is obviously a bad thing all round. However that does not = forced pregnancy. A phrase that is close to forced birth and so imo is unnecessarily emotive.

I do see lack of access to abortion as forced pregnancy (and birth), but I see your point about it being unnecessarily emotive - that we could have a discussion that’s just as deep and covers the issues without it.

And yes, very much BPAS pushing for their preferred policy.

But why do you think it’s scaremongering, NiceGerbil?

It's scaremongering because of the emotive "forced pregnancies"

It's light to the point of non- existent , on facts and data

I agree with NiceGerbil it looks more like pushing the idea of continuing with telephone consultations etc.

I don’t agree with the term forced pregnancies. Pregnancy occurs naturally and will
Progress unless an intervention happens it’s not really being forced. Nobody is holding down women and inseminating them. Am I a being forced to have a big nose as the nhs won’t give me a nose job? Is somebody being forced to be a fat person as they can’t have a gastric band? I agree with access to abortion but this term never seems quite right to me.

A common way to control women is through pregnancies. Picture a DV relationship - she's not loved the pill he won't use condoms and she isn't able to get the MAP. She may have a very narrow window where she can get an abortion without him knowing about the pregnancy (probably using the pill version so she can do it mostly at home).

Yeah, I'd say that is a forced pregnancy.

Allowed to get the pill*

And of course MAP generally costs so if there is a contraception failure it will affect poorer women far more.

@MrsManders

I don’t agree with the term forced pregnancies. Pregnancy occurs naturally and will Progress unless an intervention happens it’s not really being forced. Nobody is holding down women and inseminating them. Am I a being forced to have a big nose as the nhs won’t give me a nose job? Is somebody being forced to be a fat person as they can’t have a gastric band? I agree with access to abortion but this term never seems quite right to me.

The point is that an intervention isn’t blocked from happening.

I see it as forced becauseI see it in the terms of - If you drop a knife and aren’t allowed to move your foot, you’re being forced to have your foot stabbed. Of course you could have not used the knife, no one made you. Nevertheless, you’re blocked from taking action to stop something you don’t want to happen from happening. I see that as being forced to have it happen.

Whether you see it as forced pregnancy or not, it’s still a serious issue for women. In the UK a quarter of all pregnancies that don’t end in miscarriage are aborted. It’s a normal choice women make as part of their reproductive health that impacts their quality of life hugely. If that choice is no longer available for some it could be devastating for those individual women, but it will also be expensive for society.

*intervention is blocked from happening

@KimikosNightmare

It's scaremongering because of the emotive "forced pregnancies"

It's light to the point of non- existent , on facts and data

I agree with NiceGerbil it looks more like pushing the idea of continuing with telephone consultations etc.

Sadly, newspapers are notoriously bad at reporting quantitative data. - most people being more moved by an emotive story.

I did find preliminary NHS data on contraceptive provision at the start of the pandemic which seems to support the back story in this article (lack of access to contraception from early on). NHS don’t seem to normally release the data for the full April - March year until December, though.

There are some facts in the article. For instance, BPAS are reported as saying they have had a surge in demand this year and quantifying increased calls to their helpline. They also state there is a lack of capacity for second trimester abortions and that women are unable to access appointments because of a lack of staff and hospital space. As the biggest abortion provider in the UK any one concerned with abortion access should take that seriously rather than dismiss it.

Not sure why it’s seen as damming that BPAS have a policy goal when talking about this. The core of their mission is to improve women’s experiences around family planning. They’d be doing a piss poor job if they didn’t highlight the possibility of things getting worse if they loose access to something they think is a key tool in providing women with their services.