Government plans will incentivise quick 'lunch-hour' abortions

Under the governments new women’s health strategy, financial disincentives for same-day abortions will be removed, raising fears of ‘lunch-hour abortions’.

Last week the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting announced ‘The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England’ aimed at addressing the “basic, everyday sexism and an appalling culture of medical misogyny” within the NHS. The document lists over a hundred actions that the government plan to take, including the following:

“We are also changing the NHS Payment Scheme to remove financial disincentives to provision of timely abortion care. This makes clear that prices paid should not discourage the delivery of consultations, scans and procedures on the same day, and asks providers and commissioners to agree arrangements to ensure the service is safe and sustainable.”

Under the current system, in most cases, abortion providers are paid separately for each part of the abortion process. This encourages abortion providers not to rush the process, and gives women time to consider their decisions before committing to the actual abortion itself.

The changes will remove financial barriers, providing a monetary incentive for providers to rush women through the process, often in the same day. In the past abortion clinics have been criticised for marketing ‘lunch-hour abortions’ and campaigners fear that the new system will drive a similar approach.

This comes after a clause decriminalised abortion up to the point of birth was added to the Crime and Policing Bill by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi. Amendments to remove this clause were rejected by the House of Lords, and the Bill is set to become law very soon.

Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said about the proposals: “Women facing an unplanned pregnancy need time, care and support, not a system that gives abortion clinics a financial incentive to rush them through consultations, scans and abortions on the same day.”

“There has been a major public backlash against the ‘abortion up to birth’ law change. You would think this would cause the Government to stop and not do anything to make the situation even worse,” she added.

Father of the House, Sir Edward Leigh MP, said: “Having just waved through abortion up to birth proposals tabled by one of its own MPs with minimal scrutiny and against the will of the public, it beggars belief that abortion providers may now be allowed to benefit financially from rushing women into abortions.”