Attitudes towards the regulation and provision of abortion among healthcare professionals in Britain: cross-sectional survey data from the SACHA Study

Objectives: To gather views of healthcare professionals on the regulation and provision of abortion in Britain.

Methods: Cross-sectional, stratified cluster sample survey of healthcare professionals working in a range of healthcare services including abortion services. Measures included knowledge of and attitudes towards the regulation and provision of abortion.

Results: A total of 771 healthcare professionals responded. More than nine in ten supported abortion being a woman's choice and a clear majority favoured abortion being treated as a health rather than a legal issue. Some 6.2% saw abortion at any gestational age as contrary to personal beliefs and a similarly small minority (6.7%) opposed abortion after 12 weeks' gestation. One in five of all healthcare professionals and a third of those aged under 30 years were unaware that the law in Britain requires two doctors to authorise an abortion. Free-text comments revealed opposition to the need for this legal requirement. Support for an extended role for nurses in abortion care was high; 65.3% agreed that nurses should be able to prescribe abortion medication. Little more than a third of all healthcare professionals (37.0%) agreed that abortion should be standard practice in their service; the proportion was highest among those in sexual and reproductive health services (58.4%) and lowest among those in general practice (18.7%).

Conclusions: Healthcare professionals in Britain were generally supportive of abortion being treated in the same way as other health issues and would be likely to support any moves to decriminalise abortion.