Caring Britain?

A sad story in yesterday's Telegraph reported on the mother who was pregnant with twins and hanged herself after giving in to pressure from her boyfriend who "reacted badly" to her pregnancy. (Artist hanged herself after aborting her twins) The counselling she was offered amounted to the telephone number of a counselling service.

At the inquest, the doctor concerned said that this was "normal practice". The boss at her clinic said:
"The time that can be given to a woman by a counsellor is limited in a busy hospital. [...] I am satisfied everything was done to make sure Emma was consenting to surgery. I don't feel there was any gap in the counselling service."
Let me get this right: a woman with a history of anxiety and depression presents for an abortion. She is given a phone number to talk to someone. She has the abortion and then commits suicide. But there is no gap in the counselling service.

The icing on the cake:
Recording a verdict of suicide, Dr Carlyon said: "It is clear that a termination can have a profound effect on a woman's life.

"But I am reassured by the evidence of the doctors here."
So that's all right then.

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