Ruled out
Hicks, C.
Nursing Times 76(47): 2041
1980
ISSN/ISBN: 0954-7762 PMID: 6905028 Document Number: 163188
The legal controversy surrounding nurses and late abortions in England has only recently appeared in the national headlines but can be traced back to the end of last year. It was then that the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), convinced that nurses who participated in medically induced abortions were not legally protected under the 1967 Abortion Act, advised its members not to administer prostaglandins in the termination of pregnancy. A few months later the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) issued directives that were directly in opposition to the college's advice. A recent ruling overturned a High Court ruling, and means that nurses who participate in induced abortions by administering prostaglandins or other abortifacients are acting unlawfully. Thus what has been custom and practice since 1972 has been declared illegal. According to Vicki Seabrook, RCN solicitor, it also means that any nurse could in theory be prosecuted for past participation. Dismayed abortion campaigners have accused the RCN of playing into the hands of the anti-abortion lobby and of succumbing to anti-abortion pressure within its own organization. The RCN has consistently denied any political motivation and appears most disturbed at how the anti-abortion lobby has focused on the issue. The ruling could restrict the availability of prostaglandin abortions.