So now, if you are a doctor and want to bring all the options to the
table for someone considering abortion, you may be accused of breaking
medical ethical guidelines!

I am grateful for this doctor, and pray that things like this will nto
stop them from speaking out. I am sure she has saved some women from
many years of anguish!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1032640/GP-told-patients-think-twice-abortion-cleared-breaking-medical-guidelines.html

GP who told patients to think twice about abortion is cleared of breaking medical guidelines

By
Rachel Ellis
Last updated at 12:31 AM on 07th July 2008

A family doctor accused of breaking medical ethical guidelines by
trying to persuade pregnant patients not to have abortions has been
cleared.

The General Medical Council investigated GP Tammie Downes after receiving a complaint about her conduct.

Dr
Downes, a doctor of 13 years, revealed in an interview with the Daily
Mail that when women came to her to discuss having an abortion she
would often encourage them to consider all the other options available,
including having the baby.

Dr Tammie Downes has been cleared by the
General Medical Council after being accused of breaching medical and
ethical guidelines by advising against abortion

She
claims a third of these women did not go ahead with abortions and at
least eight babies are alive today that would have been aborted.

Pro-choice
critics accused Dr Downes of letting her personal antiabortion views
affect how she dealt with patients  –  which amounted to a breach of
GMC guidelines.

Had she been found guilty of serious
professional misconduct by the GMC she could have been struck off the
medical register. But last night the doctor, 37, who works in West
Cornwall, revealed that the charges against her had been dropped.

She told of her delight at being cleared by the GMC and insisted that she had never acted improperly.

But
she said the investigation by the GMC had been an ordeal. She is also
concerned that other doctors will be reluctant to offer women seeking
an abortion the ‘full range of options’ for fear of being reported to
the medical regulator.

‘It was a worrying time and it felt
completely unjust because I was sure that I was doing the job of a good
GP  –  not something I should be suspended for,’ she said.

‘What they were accusing me of was ridiculous. However, I was definitely fearful that I may have to go to court.

‘I know other doctors who have had complaints made about them
that have taken years to resolve. It didn’t stop me working but I did
have to delay reapplying to be a GP trainer until the investigation had
finished.’

Figures revealed that the number of women choosing
to have abortions in England and Wales has hit an all-time high of
almost 200,000. Around one in five doctors exercises the legal right of
conscientious objection under the 1967 Abortion Act to not become
involved in performing abortions or in advising patients about them.

While
Dr Downes, who is married to Greg, an Anglican vicar, refuses to sign
abortion forms because of her Christian and pro-life views, she is
happy to see patients considering a termination to discuss the options.

‘I am carrying on as I have always done  –  offering women
alternatives and helping them to think through the decision they are
making,’ she said.

‘Doctors who say it is a woman’s right to
have an abortion and tick the box without looking at the other options
and implications of having an abortion are not doing the patient any
favours.’

She added: ‘Patients will get worse treatment if
doctors are fearful of doing a good job of ensuring that people fully
understand the processes they are going through.’

The GMC
investigation was triggered by a complaint last November believed to be
from a practising doctor involved in the pro-choice movement after Dr
Downes expressed her views on abortion in an interview for this
newspaper.