The woman, 38, says she was seeking treatment for a bladder problem on July 19 when a doctor at All Saints Medical Center in Plumstead, south-east London, asked if she was pregnant. When she said she was, she claims the male GP asked if it was “good news”, before handing her a Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC) leaflet when she said she was “not sure” and was looking into the solution . The leaflet, entitled Abortion – Your Right to Know, had telephone numbers for services run by anti-abortion groups claiming to offer pregnancy support. He also listed the potential risks of abortion, which he falsely said included depression, anxiety, eating disorders, PTSD, infertility, and breast cancer. The woman, who asked not to be named because her family is unaware of the pregnancy, also claims the doctor gave inaccurate fertility advice and told her the abortion was likely to affect her ability to conceive in the future. She says she left the appointment in shock. “When I looked at the booklet properly, I noticed it had a daily diary of ‘what’s happening to your fetus today’ and the first day is ‘A new life has been created,’” she said. “It was really upsetting. It didn’t make me feel guilty because I have modern views on abortion, but that’s what I felt it was designed to do.” South East London Integrated Care, which brings together NHS services and local councils, said: “We take such matters very seriously and are currently investigating the alleged incident with the GP practice.” Guidance from the General Medical Council, which regulates doctors, clearly says that doctors “should never express their personal beliefs to patients in ways that exploit their vulnerability or are likely to make them feel uncomfortable” and must ensure that the information shared with patients is objective, accurate and up-to-date. The NHS website states that abortion does not increase the risk of breast cancer or mental health issues, nor does it affect a woman’s chances of becoming pregnant in the future. The charity that issued the leaflet, SPUC, is a prominent anti-abortion group with a history of spreading misinformation about abortion. In 2019, she was exposed for launching a Toy Story-themed campaign aimed at children, which falsely claimed that fetuses can feel pain as early as 10 weeks after conception. GPs in other parts of the UK told the Observer they have been sent leaflets by anti-abortion charities. In these cases, the leaflets were not given to patients, but Dr Pam Lowe, of Birmingham’s Aston University, who is an expert on anti-abortion campaigning, said the incidents indicated wider efforts by campaigners to target doctors in the hope that he can hand out the leaflets, either by mistake or because they were sympathetic. “The concern is that some people may rely on this information because they get it from their doctor,” he said. Dr Katie Cairns, a GP in Belfast, said she had been sent unbranded leaflets promoting the ‘reversal’ of abortion, an unproven treatment, in 2020. Another GP, Dr Liz Bates from Birmingham, said she had been sent leaflets anti-abortion by unknown source “About 18 months ago.” In a separate incident around three years ago, a patient in Cornwall found a SPUC leaflet in the waiting room of her GP surgery, according to MSI Reproductive Choices. Dr Jonathan Lord, an NHS gynecologist and medical director of MSI, said the information contained in the leaflets he had seen was “false, biased, designed to scare women and cause guilt” and that any cases in patients given the leaflets would be “disturbing”. . “It would be deeply irresponsible – but given the tactics used by anti-abortion groups, they may not have realized the leaflets were even there, or how misleading they are,” he said. Kerry Abel, president of Abortion Rights, a pro-choice campaign group, said misinformation had the potential to “delay access to abortion, potentially making the process more dangerous”. The SPUC claimed it “only provided leaflets to GPs who requested them”. He said: “SPUC contacted GPs between 2015-2016 letting them know leaflets were available if they wanted to receive one. Leaflets were then sent to GPs who specifically requested them. The aim of this was to give doctors information they could offer to patients presenting for abortion, particularly those who may have been ambivalent about their decision.” It has previously denied spreading misinformation about abortion, claiming its content is based on “scientific data concerning life before birth.” In July, the NHS deleted a listing on its website for SPUC that directed people to links to the group’s hotline and “counseling” for “abortion victims,” according to Vice World News.
