Women 'manipulated' about abortion in pregnancy crisis centres

Women are being misled and manipulated astir termination by immoderate situation gestation proposal centres successful the UK, according to grounds from a Panorama investigation.

The centres run extracurricular the NHS and thin to beryllium registered charities.

Most accidental they don't notation women for abortions, but connection enactment and counselling for unplanned pregnancies.

But the BBC's probe reveals much than a 3rd of these services springiness misleading aesculapian accusation oregon unethical advice, and sometimes both.

Abortions person been disposable connected the NHS successful England, Scotland and Wales for much than 50 years. They person been ineligible successful Northern Ireland since 2019.

Pregnancy counselling is disposable done the NHS and regulated termination providers, but searching online, Panorama identified 57 situation gestation proposal centres advertising.

Most assertion to supply a harmless abstraction for women to person enactment and close accusation astir their options.

The BBC decided to analyse aft proceeding from women who had been to these centres. One said she had been "traumatised" and that the centre had tried to "manipulate" her into not having an abortion.

The Panorama squad wanted to find retired more, truthful contacted each 57, posing arsenic women wanting proposal astir their options, including abortion.

Of these, 34 directed america to the NHS website oregon regulated termination providers.

Some 21 centres gave misleading aesculapian accusation and/or unethical proposal astir abortion

The NHS says, similar immoderate aesculapian treatment, determination is simply a tiny hazard thing could spell wrong, and that having an termination does not summation the hazard of bosom cancer, infertility, oregon intelligence wellness problems.

Leading medic successful the tract of obstetrics, and manager of an termination provider, Dr Jonathan Lord, said women needed an "informed choice" which required "good prime unbiased information".

During telephone and in-person consultations, Panorama was told:

One centre said women could acquisition hallucinations involving babies crying and person "nightmares of thing happening to a child" aft an abortion.

Jo Holmes, of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, said: "From a professional-standards constituent of view... they are not determination to advise, they are not determination to guide, and they are... not determination to springiness their opinion. This connection is designed to marque the lawsuit consciousness guilty."

We wanted to find retired much astir however the centres run truthful we went undercover.

We visited the Crossroads Crisis Pregnancy Centre successful Harrow, north-west London, which opened successful 2005 and is based successful a Baptist church. The centre's website says its trained counsellors supply escaped and close information.

An undercover newsman told a counsellor she was 3 weeks pregnant, and asked what an termination would impact astatine that stage. The counsellor replied: "The babe is waiting for the pill to termination it and to get escaped of it."

Listing slump and infertility arsenic imaginable broadside effects, she added: "There is nary benignant of harmless happening due to the fact that women person had the termination and immoderate volition bleed to death, and each sorts of things happen."

The counsellor aboriginal said she was not telling the undercover newsman what to bash astir her pregnancy.

Crossroads Pregnancy Advice Centre and the counsellor did not respond to Panorama's petition for comment.

We besides investigated the Tyneside Pregnancy Advice Centre successful Newcastle upon Tyne. Its website says it has a "Christian ethos" and is committed to providing a caring, compassionate, and nonrecreational service. The centre is tally by Dr Chris Richards who has anti-abortion views. He is besides an NHS paediatrician.

Our undercover newsman visited, saying she was joined with 2 children and had discovered she was large again.

The advisor asked her what her children would deliberation astir her having an abortion. "Would you beryllium capable to archer your daughters astir having a termination? Or would it beryllium thing you'd ever person to support quiescent about?" she said.

The newsman was handed a leaflet which said "avoidance of children" was a intelligence risk. Asked what that meant, the counsellor replied: "Having the termination and feeling similar possibly you shouldn't beryllium astir children arsenic a result."

The counsellor added if the newsman wanted to person an abortion, she should consult the NHS website.

Ms Holmes described the exchanges arsenic extraordinary. "It's the woman's acquisition and she's conscionable trying to manipulate the speech to her end," she said.

Dr Richards said: "We person a 14-year way grounds of compliance with each our regulatory obligations and implicit 1,200 women person benefited from the enactment of our unit and volunteers." He added that anyone who has work the centre's website tin spot "where they are coming from".

You tin ticker Panorama: Crisis Pregnancy Centres Uncovered connected 27 February connected BBC One astatine 20:30 GMT and iPlayer

Stanton International is an influential anti-abortion radical successful America, wherever it has acceptable up 5 situation gestation centres. It besides has a centre successful Belfast called Stanton Healthcare. Its website says it is simply a harmless spot wherever "women are empowered to marque their champion choice".

Before we went undercover, we spoke to Ashleigh, 30, who contacted the centre aft discovering she was large successful 2021.

The mother-of-five said she had wanted an termination and that the centre had told her implicit the telephone she could get 1 on-site. When she arrived for her appointment, she said she was told she needed an ultrasound scan. It revealed she was large with twins.

"They said, 'you person to look, these are your babies' and erstwhile I yet turned to look, I saw 2 wee babies connected the screen," she said. "I wiped my ain jelly disconnected and near the room... That was capable for me."

Ashleigh went up with an termination and said her acquisition astatine Stanton Healthcare had near her traumatised.

Dr Lord has criticised the usage of ultra-sound scans astatine situation gestation proposal centres. He said: "Scans are a tool, they tin beryllium utile successful immoderate circumstances, but they tin really beryllium rather intrusive successful others."

The usage of scans, helium said, tin origin guilt for large women considering termination and truthful beryllium manipulative. Stanton Healthcare volition lone spot women who supply a affirmative gestation trial astatine the centre.

Claire, who was 10 weeks into a planned pregnancy, agreed to secretly movie for Panorama.

During the consultation, she was told by an advisor astir "post-abortive syndrome," described arsenic a terrible anxiousness that "erodes your intelligence health" for six months to six years. The advisor besides outlined what the centre described arsenic the broadside effects of the termination pill, saying it contained "a whopping dose of pistillate hormone".

"Within 48 hours your babe volition dice of hunger and thirst. It volition beryllium starved to death," she said.

Claire was besides told that the centre provided aftercare and fiscal assistance to women who went up with their pregnancies.

As she left, she was fixed leaflets containing graphic images of aborted foetuses and accusation which suggested she could get bosom crab if she had a termination.

Dr Lord said the findings were "extremely troubling".

"There is nary accrued hazard of superior intelligence illness, infertility, oregon bosom crab aft an abortion," helium said. "These centres are acceptable up to people women who are struggling with their decision, and past springiness them mendacious proposal to effort to sway them distant from an abortion."

"They hazard causing important harm and harm to those especially-vulnerable patients."

Ms Holmes said the claims made by the centre were biased and judgemental. "Counselling is astir being capable to research what you're feeling successful a harmless spot with nary judgements, but immoderate pistillate who went into a league similar this would travel retired profoundly traumatised."

Danielle Versluys, Stanton International's main operating officer, told Panorama she was not prepared to sermon "post-abortive syndrome". But she added: "Within our clinics, women are advised that having an termination could pb to lifelong grief, sorrow, regret and it tin interaction them negatively."

Defending Stanton's usage of ultrasound scans, she said, "The information should not beryllium hidden from women... And truthful to supply a aesculapian scan... is perfectly acceptable and called for and indispensable for a pistillate to marque an informed choice."

Asked astir their leaflets, Mrs Versluys said: "I don't judge it's inappropriate to amusement a pistillate what the existent result of an termination is. We are committed to providing women with the information and with the resources that they request to marque the champion imaginable decisions for them and their baby."

The Charity Commission successful Northern Ireland told Panorama it is already looking into Stanton Healthcare. The Charity Commission successful England said it is assessing accusation provided by the programme.

You tin ticker Panorama: Crisis Pregnancy Centres Uncovered connected 27 February connected BBC One astatine 20:30 GMT and iPlayer