Marie Stopes International is attempting to encourage young medical students into providing abortions as it faces potential shortages in trained medical professionals willing to do abortions.
The abortion giant is working with Health Education England and a range of UK universities as it seeks to promote its new abortion clinic placement programme to students.
A pilot scheme, conducted with King’s College London, has seen two students say they’re both keen on continuing in abortion provision.
Trishnu told the Royal College of Nursing magazine: “Being able to come here allowed me to develop my knowledge about abortion and the medical aspects of contraception”.
Ozlem, a young Muslim woman who underwent the placement, added: “it’s rare to see Muslim females and Muslim males come to clinics for an abortion. Now that I’ve had this opportunity, I can also spread the word, letting them know that you can make your own choice.”
Students could be forced into ‘abortion skills’ training
In 2016, it emerged only 1% of trainee obstetricians and gynaecologists were taking higher training in abortion.
Attempts to increase those numbers in recent years haven’t come from just Marie Stopes.
Last year, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) released a report stating its intention to teach and assess “abortion skills” as part of its core curriculum.
Going a step further than the NICE recommendations, RCOG’s proposals fail to mention any conscientious objection provision for pro-life students who don’t want to provide ‘abortion care’.
In its Better for Women report, the College says “the General Medical Council (GMC) should review the Undergraduate medical curriculum to include the importance of abortion care to students.
“The RCOG will teach abortion skills as a part of its core curriculum and assess those skills through examination.”
All doctors who practise medicine in the UK must be registered with the GMC, meaning if the proposals are adopted, pro-life medical students could be forced to sit through undefined “abortion skills” training or risk losing their membership of the medical body.
‘Indoctrination’
A spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said: “The extremely low number of trainee obstetricians and gynaecologists who are taking higher training in abortion likely reflects an innate human reluctance to end life.
“Marie Stopes International’s new placement scheme is nothing but an attempt to indoctrinate young medical students.
“Future healthcare professional’s training should be directed at offering the best possible care to all humans, including unborn babies.”
