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Report: British doctors oppose abortions


Published: Dec. 29, 2007 at 10:01 AM
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LONDON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A survey suggests four out of five British doctors oppose a government plan to let them perform medical abortions in their family practices.

Only 14 percent of the 2,175 doctors interviewed were willing to provide medical abortions using drugs in early pregnancy outside hospitals, The Telegraph reported.

Most of the doctors in the survey objected from a safety and workload standpoint rather than from a moral objection to abortion, which under current law can only be performed in a hospital or an approved private clinic.

About one third of the annual 200,000 abortions in England and Wales are carried out medically, with the rest done surgically, the Telegraph said.

Many doctors also feel their relationship with patients could be compromised if they performed medical abortions, said Dr. Tim Ringrose, a medical director at Doctors.Net.

"It's a complex issue. It's not just about a woman taking a pill and then leaving with the problem cured," Ringrose told the Telegraph.

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