British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS)

Bpas Briefings

bpas uses its experience of caring for women with unwanted pregnancy to inform those responsible for public policy on reproductive health issues. We work closely with the individuals and organisations responsible for reproductive healthcare. These include the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Department of Health, as well as opinion-formers within the media and international advocacy organisations.

Best Practice in Pregnancy Counselling

Abortion in Britain is regulated according to the Abortion Act (1967), as amended by the Human
Fertilisation and Embryology Act (1990). This stipulates the grounds upon which an abortion can be
performed, and the premises on which an abortion can be carried out: in an NHS hospital or a place
approved by the Secretary of State.

32 reasons not to lower the abortion time limit

Anonymised case-study audit of abortion requests above 22 weeks' gestation in 2008

Early Medical Abortion

bpas believes the law should be modernised in line with international practice and allow doctors to treat women undergoing abortion more appropriately, eg more similarly to women experiencing an early natural miscarriage at the same gestations. This would permit capacity for non-invasive early abortion care to be expanded, making access to earlier abortion more available under 63 days gestation.

Access to abortion in Northern Ireland: Is abortion legal in Northern Ireland?

Women in Northern Ireland do not have the same access to abortion as women in mainland Britain. Abortion law in Northern Ireland remains as it was in England, Wales and Scotland before the 1967 Abortion Act was passed by Parliament.

Why should the nursing and midwifery role be expanded in abortion?

The wording of the Abortion Act 1967 enables abortions to be conducted lawfully only by 'registered medical practitioners'. This is interpreted as meaning only doctors registered by the General Medical Council, and to exclude nurses and midwives who have registration with their own professional bodies. BPAS and the Royal College of Nursing would like to see the wording of the law altered to allow the nursing role in abortion to expand, as has been permitted in other areas of healthcare since the 1960s.

bpas response to cross-party inquiry into unplanned pregnancy

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas) welcomes the findings of The Morning After: A Cross-Party Inquiry Into Unplanned Pregnancy. Bpas is particularly pleased that the report emphasises the needs of older women and their partners who are trying to avoid unplanned pregnancy in addition to recommendations to support younger women and men.

bpas: "Doctors in Ireland need clarity on when they can provide abortions and they need it now"

An investigation is to be carried out following the death of a woman in an Irish hospital after she was denied an abortion. Doctors apparently refused to perform a termination on the woman, who was suffering a miscarriage, because a foetal heartbeat was still present. She subsequently developed septicaemia and died.