Abortion Care Guidelines Published

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Friday May 07, 2004 15:39 by DFC - Docters For Choice info at doctorsforchoice dot org Doctors For Choice PO Box 6862, Dublin 2

Doctors For Choice in Ireland have published a guide to clinical practice
for GP's, and other interested doctors, on the management of the abortion
patient in Ireland. This is the first such guide published in this country.

Doctors For Choice in Ireland have published a guide to clinical practice
for GP's, and other interested doctors, on the management of the abortion
patient in Ireland. This is the first such guide published in this country.
Doctors For Choice is a voluntary group of doctors from all around Ireland,
striving to make comprehensive reproductive health services, including
contraception and abortion , available in Ireland. The published guidelines
are aimed at general practitioners (family doctors) and other doctors who experience the clinical management
of the abortion patient in their practice. It exists in the context of the legal ban
on abortion, the need for the patient to travel, the constitutiona and Medical
Council positions on abortion, and the Information Act (1995) which forbids direct
referral of patients for abortion.

The guide offers experienced advice on the current legal situation,
discusses reasons why patients seeking abortion can tend to avoid doctors,
encourages doctors to be confident in providing care for abortion patients.
It contains practical advice on such issues as the clinical consultation, physical
examination of a patient, counselling, information which can be legally given, how to
write a letter for a patient seeking an abortion, referral possibilities,
possible complications and sequelae, and post abortion care. It also
contains a chapter detailing the various medical and surgical procedures
available to Irish women seeking abortion generally in England, and special considerations such
as foetal anomaly and teenagers who are under-age for consent. The guide
provides lists of useful contacts, and recommends reliable and ethical
abortion counselling agencies which are approved by pro-choice doctors, and
guidelines from the Crisis Pregnancy Agency.

Copies of the Doctors For Choice : Guidelines for Management of The Abortion
Patient in Ireland can be obtained from Doctors For Choice PO Box 6862,
Dublin 2, or emailing info@doctorsforchoice.org