Following the legalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland, the RCM has commented that the guidelines on conscientious objection by midwives aren’t clear enough.
The successful passing of legislation to legalise abortion means that the government has until the end of March 2020 to provide new regulations on the provision of abortion services. Currently, it has been made clear that women will no longer be criminalised for seeking abortions and healthcare professionals will not be prosecuted for signposting or providing abortion services.
However, Karen Murray, the RCM Director for Northern Ireland, commented on the new state of affairs, saying, ‘For now, midwives and other healthcare professionals continue to have no statutory right to conscientious objection, however the expectation of the NMC code is that if a midwife had a conscientious objection that they would make that known immediately to their employer, colleagues and the woman that they may be caring for at the time’.
The advice from the RCM to midwives in Northern Ireland is that midwives with a conscientious objection should inform management as soon as possible, not wait for a woman to arrive requesting abortion support. This is to ensure that maternity service planners can keep track of midwives who are happy to provide abortion care, allowing women to receive high-quality care without delay.