Abortion stats to be analysed

Tuesday 09 April 2019

A report on abortion in Guernsey is to be published soon, 23 years after the procedure was first legalised in the island at up to 12 weeks gestation.

Approximately 100 abortions take place per year in Guernsey it has been revealed, with patients being seen by their GPs and practitioners at the Medical Specialist Group (MSG).

Guernsey was one of the last places in the British Isles to legalise the procedure, under certain circumstances, when it was voted through in 1996.

UK regulations ensure anonymised information is sent to the Department of Health to assess trends including ethnicity, age and marital status of the women, and their treatment plan. A spokesperson for Health and Social Care said it was looking to do something similar. 

“We don’t at present publish the information, but are looking at producing a report on our trends in the future,” they said. 

One woman who said she is concerned about the care she received at the MSG some years ago has welcomed the report. 

The woman, who was 20 at the time of the procedure, said she feels she was made to look at the foetal scan despite asking not to see the image, and believed the practitioner in question to be “abrupt and insensitive.”

“The person I saw was abrupt, insensitive to my position and feelings, and in no way attempted to put me at ease at any point.

“I said I did not want to look at the screen, [they] allowed the printed image to remain in my line of sight, shifted it around on the table to draw my attention to it. I wanted to leave right there and then,” she said.

Pictured: The Medical Specialist Group. 

The law in Guernsey and the UK states that once two practitioners, usually GPs, have both signed to say that a pregnancy would affect the mother’s mental or physical health, the termination is legal up to 12 weeks. 

“I felt that the person I saw disapproved of my decision. I got in the car and cried my eyes out; I thought it was just the process, but after explaining my situation to a friend I realised something wasn’t right. I can’t imagine [they] would have behaved like this towards me had I decided to go through with it. 

“I obviously had my own reasons why I couldn’t go through with it,” she said. 

In a response to the woman’s letter of complaint at the time, the MSG apologised and said it was not the practitioner’s intention to upset her, and they were going to take no further action.

“[the person involved] is one of few practitioners on the island prepared to do the procedure,” they added. 

“The majority of our seven obstetricians at the Medical Specialist Group see patients requesting social terminations if referred from their GP or Choices. Very few women are seen near the 12 week Guernsey legal limit, most are seen well before that.”

Choices provide a counselling service for women who have experienced a termination.