Tune in!
We will be on @BBCNews in a mo to discuss the provision of late abortion care in the UK, and the barriers that stop some women accessing it.

Here's a clip of our Medical Director @lohrpa on @BBCNews just now, explaining why some women with medical conditions like uncontrolled epilepsy or a low-lying placenta cannot be treated for abortion care in our clinics.

Instead these women must be treated in a hospital where other services they may need are readily available. BPAS finds hospital places for around 1200 women per year, but sometimes no appointment can be found. These women must continue the pregnancy - despite the health risks.

This includes women with cancer, heart conditions, or where the placenta has grown over a caesarean scar, presenting a risk of haemorrhage. Sometimes the pregnancy was very much wanted, but the health risks have changed everything.

Ed Dorman is a consultant obgyn & one of the only doctors providing late abortions in the NHS. There are only a handful of drs like Ed providing these services in hospitals, so appointments are very scarce. He has to turn women away who are in need, due to a lack of appointments.

Late abortions are very rare in this country: just 1.6% of abortions performed last year were over 20 weeks.

However, the women who need later care are often the most vulnerable of all the patients we see. It is heartbreaking to turn them away.

Women need abortion care after 20 weeks for a host of reasons. Around 1/3 are due to a foetal anomaly diagnosis, often in the course of a wanted pregnancy. Others are in different - but often equally challenging - circumstances.

Sometimes, a change in circumstances means women suddenly cannot cope with another child. We see women who have faced immense personal challenges during the course of their pregnancy, including the loss of a partner.

In other cases, domestic abuse is sadly a major factor in the decision to terminate, as women worry about their ability to escape an abusive relationship with a child and
for the safety of that child.

Sometimes, women seek a termination for health reasons, or because the pregnancy has caused their health to detriorate. These very same health conditions can make it more difficult to find appointments for these patients.

In other cases the pregnancy simply was not detected until late. This is often the case with young women but it can happen to clients of any age.

You can read more about the reasons women need later care in our report, "Why do women need abortions after 20 weeks?", online here: https://www.bpas.org/media/3301/_lates-report-why-do-women-need-abortions-after-20-weeks.pdf

Whatever the reason, this is a tiny proportion of the women who have abortions: just 1.6% of abortions in 2019 were over 20 weeks. But these women need our support. For those we cannot treat due to complex health conditions, safe hospital appointments must be made available.