English doctor and former president of the Catholic Medical Association banned from providing an abortion reversal pill to his patients.
QUICK FACTS:
- Dr. Dermot Kearney, former president of the Catholic Medical Association, was barred last year from providing emergency abortion pill rescue therapy (APR) for up to 18 months.
- The doctor is being investigated by the General Medical Council due to claims that the treatment is unproven and could be dangerous to the woman, according to Pregnancy Help News.
- Pro-life advocates have supported the treatment, saying it can save the life of unborn babies whose mothers may have initially put them in danger.
- The Christian Legal Centre (CLC) is supporting the doctor and will continue to do so when his case is heard at the Royal Courts of Justice on February 24, according to Christian Today.
CHRISTIAN EXPERT’S TAKE ON THE ISSUE:
- CLC chief executive Andrea Williams said it seems clear Kearney should be free to help women save their pregnancy saying, “We have seen many women immediately regret taking the first abortion pill.”
- “Women should be properly informed, as a matter of course, that the baby’s death is not inevitable after the first pill is taken. Women who immediately regret taking the first abortion pill and who urgently need support to try and save the pregnancy are being denied access to care due to this ban.
- “Many women feel unbelievably grateful to Dr Kearney for helping them to save their babies. Even where the babies were not saved, or where they decided to decline the progesterone treatment, they feel that he has cared for them and helped them when they most needed it.
- “In any other area of medicine, treatment would be stopped if consent was withdrawn. Is ideology and the vested interests of abortion providers in the UK getting in the way of the woman’s right to choose?”
BACKGROUND:
- The controversy is over the treatment for the administration of progesterone to a pregnant woman who has taken the first abortion pill, mifepristone.
- The treatment is applicable to women who have changed their minds about proceeding with the abortion by taking the second pill, which can allow a possible reversal.
