PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Government announces plans to financially incentivise abortion clinics to provide ‘lunch-hour abortions’
18 April 2026 – The Government has announced plans to financially incentivise abortion clinics to provide ‘lunch-hour’ or ‘same-day’ abortions.
The changes were announced as part of the Renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England, which was launched this week.
Under the current NHS Payment Scheme, abortion clinics are typically paid separately for each part of the abortion pathway – the consultation, scan and procedure. This encourages abortion providers not to rush the process in one day, and also gives women more time to consider their decision before the actual abortion procedure happens.
Under the Government’s new approach (page 28), abortion clinics will now be paid a bundled payment for providing all stages of the process – and the Government has made it clear they are doing this to financially incentivise clinics to provide abortion “consultations, scans and procedures on the same day”.
This will financially incentivise the UK’s largest private abortion providers, BPAS, MSI Reproductive Choices and NUPAS, which are paid to provide most of the abortions provided through the NHS, to rush women into abortions with ‘same day’ or ‘lunch-hour’ abortions.
Abortion provider MSI Reproductive Choice (formerly Marie Stopes International) have in the past marketed ‘lunch-hour’ abortion services – walk-in abortion services aimed to fit into a woman’s lunch hour.
The planned changes will likely see women being rushed through the abortion process, being given little time to process and contemplate whether to go ahead with what, for many, is a life-changing decision to have an abortion.
Already, women have complained of feeling they are on a conveyor belt towards abortion, and this has been corroborated by a doctor who used to work for one of the largest abortion providers in the country.
There is also already evidence of a high-pressure environment in abortion clinics where women can be rushed into abortion decisions, with, for example, the Care Quality Commission finding MSI Reproductive Choices were paying staff bonuses for encouraging women to undergo abortions.
At all 70 Marie Stopes clinics, inspectors found evidence of a policy that saw staff utilise a high-pressure sales tactic, calling women who had decided against having an abortion to offer them another appointment.
In what was described as a “cattle market culture” staff felt “encouraged” to ensure women went through with abortions. Staff described this as a “very target-driven culture”.
‘Abortion up to birth’ clause and abortion numbers reach almost 300,000
This follows a major public backlash over the ‘abortion up to birth’ clause that was added to the Crime and Policing Bill by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi, and supported by 291 Labour MPs, which is set to become law in a matter of weeks.
Instead of stopping there, the Government appears to have almost immediately decided to make our abortion laws even more extreme by announcing plans that include financially incentivising abortion clinics to provide ‘lunch-hour’ or ‘same day’ abortions.
The planned changes come after new figures show a record of almost 300,000 abortions across the United Kingdom in 2023 – the Government’s changes could lead to even more abortions taking place in the UK.
Labour MP, Mary Glindon, said:
“It is concerning that the Government is now offering financial incentives for abortion providers to fast-track the abortion process. Both pro-life and pro-choice advocates ought to be able to agree that women need adequate time to make such a momentous decision.”
“We already have nearly 300,000 abortions a year in the UK. Why not focus instead on supporting women who may wish to keep their babies?”
Father of the House, Sir Edward Leigh MP, said:
“The Government seems intent on ever more extreme laws regarding life and death issues. Having just waved through abortion up to birth proposals tabled by one of its own MPs with minimal scrutiny and against the will of the public, it beggars belief that abortion providers may now be allowed to benefit financially from rushing women into abortions. Are abortion providers now writing Government abortion policy?”
Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said:
“Women facing an unplanned pregnancy need time, care and support, not a system that gives abortion clinics a financial incentive to rush them through consultations, scans and abortions on the same day.”
“This change is part of much wider major plans of the Labour Government to further expand and liberalise abortion provision, which would likely lead to more lives being ended by abortion here in the UK.”
“The announcement of these plans comes just weeks before the ‘abortion up to birth’ clause that was added to the Crime and Policing Bill by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi becomes law.”
“There has been a major public backlash against the ‘abortion up to birth’ law change. You would think this would cause the Government to stop and not do anything to make the situation even worse.”
“Instead, the Labour Government appears to have almost immediately decided to make our abortion laws even more extreme by announcing plans for a major liberalisation and expansion of abortion provision, which includes financially incentivising abortion clinics to provide ‘lunch-hour’ or ‘same day’ abortions.”
ENDS
- For additional quotes and media interviews, contact press@righttolife.org.uk or 07774 483 658.
For further information on Right To Life UK, visit www.righttolife.org.uk
