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Abortion

Legal Knowledge (3)>Healthcare (1)>Abortion (1)

About this section

If you are considering a termination you should speak to an experienced advisor who will be able to discuss your options. It may also help to confide in a friend or family member who knows you and your circumstances.

Once you have considered all of your options, you may decide to have an abortion. Abortion is legal in the UK up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. A pregnancy is calculated from the first day of the woman’s last period. In order for an abortion to be carried out, two doctors must agree that it is necessary for one of the following reasons:

Having the baby would harm the woman’s mental or physical health more than having the abortion; the woman is required to explain how she feels about the pregnancy to the doctor
Having the baby would harm the physical or mental health of any children the woman already has
The abortion will save the woman’s life, or prevent serious permanent harm to her mental or physical health
There is a substantial risk that the baby would be born seriously handicapped, either physically or mentally

Under-16s need to have parental consent to end the pregnancy, unless the two doctors decide they are mature enough to understand what their decision involves.

If you wish to have an abortion, you can do so on the NHS. In order to do this, you need to be referred by a doctor. This can be your own GP, or one from a family planning clinic or a Brook advisory centre.

Although it is legal to have an abortion up to 24 weeks, the procedure is generally frowned upon after the 20 week stage. It is safer when carried out in early pregnancy, and you might find it difficult to get an abortion on the NHS after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The average waiting time for an abortion on the NHS is between two and four weeks.

Last year, 91% of abortions were funded by the NHS. The total number of abortions in 2008 - 195,296 - was down 1.6 per cent on the previous year.

Articles in this Category

04/12/2008	Methods of Abortion
	An overview of the different methods depending how far into the pregnancy you are
	Read More >>>

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