Contraceptive cuts could lead to more abortions

The BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme has learned that funding cuts have left many GP practices unable to provide some forms of contraception.

Clinicians have warned that cuts to contraceptive services will result in an increase in ‘unplanned pregnancies and abortions’.

The Advisory Group on Contraception (AGC), an advisory group made up of clinicians and advocacy groups, reports that one in three councils have cut, or are considering cutting, the number of GP practices able to provide Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (Larc) methods, such as coils and implants.

This, they argue, is leaving the right of women to access the full range of contraceptive choices at risk.

Further research has suggested that a quarter of councils have shut or may close some of their contraceptive services. Approximately 3.9 million women live in an area where contraceptive services are restricted in some way - representing nearly a third of women of reproductive age in England.

A survey of 1,023 GPs by the Family Planning Association (FPA) from across England found that: only two per cent offer the full range of contraceptive methods; 53 per cent do not have enough time in a standard contraceptive appointment to give women all the information they need; and 23 per cent do not offer the contraceptive implant.

Natika Halil, chief executive of the FPA and an AGC member, said: “It's a false economy to restrict women's access to contraception. Every £1 spent on contraception saves £11 in averted health costs.

"Making it harder for women to choose the right contraception for them will mean more unplanned pregnancies and more abortions. Councils need adequate funding to deliver the comprehensive contraceptive services women need and deserve."

The government maintains that ‘local areas’ can best decide on sexual health provision, despite the 2015 Spending Review saying that there would be a 3.9 per cent year-on-year budget cut for five years for public health budgets from April 2016 until April 2021, which totalled at least £600 million.