Dr. Patricia Lohr:

Knowing that abortion sits within a criminal code and that a person could potentially be prosecuted certainly has a chilling effect on doctors and nurses who might be interested in entering this field. I believe it is a barrier to individuals engaging in the field of abortion provision. Many women are not aware that abortion sits within the criminal code, but it is the case that some women are aware and they are aware that they have to meet certain criteria in order to obtain a lawful abortion. I have been made aware of cases at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service where women have concealed the reasons why they are coming for the abortion because they were worried it would not meet the criteria. I will give the committee an example. A woman was experiencing extreme lower abdominal pain during her pregnancy, so much so that she felt she could not continue the pregnancy. She did not believe that this reason would meet the lawful criteria for an abortion. When she met with our doctors she told us a different reason for wanting to obtain an abortion, which did fit with the Act. It was ultimately discovered that this woman had an ectopic pregnancy and a diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy was delayed.

There are very few things now, thankfully, that lead to maternal mortality in this part of the world. Unrecognised ectopic pregnancy, however, is one of them. For some patients it has potentially devastating consequences. I have made reference to a paper that was published about women in the UK who have contacted Women on Web about obtaining abortion medications because they felt they could not leave the house, perhaps they had a controlling partner or it was a domestic violence situation, maybe they could not afford multiple visits to the clinic, etc. The framework within which those women have to obtain an abortion is a barrier.