'Safe' abortions at risk

Abortion services in the NHS are not given enough priority, leading to women being denied access to safe methods of termination, it is claimed today.

A report from Sexualhealth charity Family Planning Association (fpa) - titled Early Abortions: Promoting Real Choice For Women - calls for abortion to be available within 72 hours of first contacting a health professional.

The charity also highlighted the "postcode lottery" of services that varied across England.

In north- east Lincolnshire in 2001, 79 per cent of abortions were carried out before 10 weeks. But in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, the proportion of early abortions was just 26 per cent.

The fpa also called for the NHS to fund at least 90 per cent of abortions.

While the NHS paid for 96 per cent of abortions in Coventry, this fell to only 50 per cent in Richmond, Surrey.