The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is supporting a campaign pioneered by an abortion provider which supports abortion on demand and up to birth, prompting anger from its members and calls for its chief executive Cathy Warwick to resign.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, along with other pro-abortion organisations, has launched a campaign entitled “We Trust Women” which calls for the decriminalisation of abortion in Britain and is supported by the RCM.
The RCM’s new policy on abortion was formally announced in a statement published last week. About 200 midwives and maternity workers signed a letter to the college’s board condemning the “utterly unacceptable” move, on which they say members were not consulted.
They wrote: “For the organisation that represents us to support the radical position that all protections for unborn children should be removed right through to birth, and without any consultation of us members, we find utterly unacceptable.” The letter adds: “We wish to state that the RCM does not speak in our name.”
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Dr Suzanne Tyler, director of services to RCM members, said that “there is no evidence that decriminalising abortion will increase the number of late terminations”.
She added: “No woman wants a late termination. It’s not desirable. We want to make sure women have access to the right care as early as possible.”
The RCM told the Catholic Herald in February that its “overriding objective is to ensure high-quality care for women.” The statement said it believed that choice over medical care “should extend to all aspects of maternity care including the choice of whether to have a baby or not.
The RCM said it favoured “choice on all aspects of their care. The RCM is not for or against abortion. It is for women, and respecting their choices about their bodies.”
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