According to a recent survey, almost 50% of medical students would object to performing an abortion after 24 weeks.
In England, abortion after 24 weeks is legal if the developing baby is going to be handicapped. Last year, there were roughly 18,000 such abortions, some of which were for minor disabilities. However, it looks like in the future, there will be fewer doctors willing to perform these procedures. According to a recent survey, nearly half of students currently in medical school would object to performing an abortion after 24 weeks regardless of the reason. 29% went beyond that – they said that they would not do it under any circumstances.
In the survey, students were asked their opinions and treating patients in eleven different scenarios. The scenarios included being asked to perform abortions at different stages. 23% of students surveyed said they would not perform an abortion because of failed contraception. In Great Britain, as in America, relatively few abortions take place for rape or incest or because of the health of the mother or child. This means that most abortions done because of contraceptive failure or because the woman and her partner did not use contraception at all. This means that 23% of all medical students would perform little or no abortion in their practices after graduating.
Objection to abortion procedures was highest among Muslims, with 60% saying they would refuse to perform them. Islam generally opposes abortion, believing that life begins in the womb.
According to Dr Sophie Strickland, of King George Hospital in Essex, who carried out the research, fewer and fewer doctors are performing abortions. She had knowledge is that the results of the survey could indicate that there may be problems replacing the doctors were retiring. If fewer medical students are willing to become abortionists, the burden of performing abortions could shift to a smaller number of doctors. This might make it difficult for women to find a provider, especially if she wants to abort after 24 weeks.
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