Pills in Practice: Is abortion and contraception policy meeting women’s needs?

Announcing the BPAS public conference, to be held at the Royal Society of Medicine in central London on Friday 11 May 2012. 

Women in Britain generally receive free and timely access to abortion, contraception and emergency contraception. These are important and welcome developments. But do they go far enough? This one-day public conference brings together clinicians, academics, advocates and service providers from the UK, Europe and the USA to discuss the future of abortion and contraception in Britain. 

Sessions include:

- Britain’s abortion service: prospects and barriers

• Ann Furedi, chief executive of BPAS.

- Home abortions: Do we medicalise too much?

The development of abortion pill means that a greater proportion of abortions takes place in early pregnancy; yet the legal framework surrounding the use of early medical abortion drugs in Britain is at odds with research, clinical guidance, and established best practice in other developed countries. This keynote session examines pioneering international research into the abortion pill, and discusses the political, cultural and legal barriers that can prevent its translation into practice.

• Beverly Winikoff, President, Gynuity Health Projects, USA
• Sam Rowlands LLM MD FRCGP FFSRH, Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust and University of Warwick
• Raha Shojai MD MSc, North University Hospital of Marseilles, France
• Kinga Jelinska, project manager, Women on Web, the Netherlands
• Kate Greasley, Dphil candidate in law, New College, Oxford; Lecturer in Law, Hertford College, Oxford

- Contraception: LARCs and their limits

This session examines developments in Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) such as the implant and the coil. Why aren’t more women using them, and are women’s expectations of ‘fit and forget’ methods appropriately managed? Would greater uptake of these methods have an impact on the number of ‘repeat’ abortions, or would policymakers do better to move away from such instrumental targets?

• James Trussell, Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University; visiting professor, the Hull York Medical School
• Dawn Clark, Psychologist, the London Research Centre for Therapeutic Education
• Kaye Wellings, Professor of Sexual and Reproductive Health Research at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• Joanne Fletcher, Consultant Nurse Gynaecology, Sheffield

- Contraception: Will the Pill survive a century?

Over 50 years on from the Pill’s introduction into Britain, why has there been no progress in over-the-counter provision? While there have been improvements in access to the morning-after pill, why aren’t we making more of it? How does the broader cultural climate affect developments in contraceptive methods, and women’s attitudes towards them?

• Christian Fiala MD, PhD, Medical Director, Gynmed Clinic for Contraception and Abortion, Vienna and Salzburg, Austria
• Lara Marks, Senior Research Fellow, King’s College London; author, Sexual Chemistry: A history of the contraceptive pill
• Ellie Lee, Reader in Social Policy and Director, Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, University of Kent

- ‘Late’ abortions and fetal anomaly – towards a woman-centred service

What are the particular issues facing women seeking abortion for fetal anomaly, and how could Britain’s ‘late abortion’ service in general be developed and improved? What are the problems and opportunities involved in recruiting and training a new generation of abortion doctors?

• Jane Fisher, Director, Antenatal Results and Choices
• Stephen Robson MB BS MRCOG MD, Professor of Fetal Medicine, Newcastle University
• Helen Statham, Deputy Director and Senior Research Associate, Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge
• Kate Guthrie, Clinical Director, Hull and East Riding Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare Partnership

TICKET PRICES

Early bird rate (until 30 March 2012)

Clinical/management - £95 - PURCHASE HERE
Nursing/midwifery/academic - £75 - PURCHASE HERE
Unwaged/student - £35 - PURCHASE HERE

Last minute rate (after 30 March 2012)

Clinical/management - £125
Nursing/midwifery/academic - £90
Unwaged/student - £50

To pay by cheque or invoice, please download the full programme and a booking form here, print off, and return the completed form to BPAS.

For more information, please:

Visit the conference website: www.futureofabortion.org
Email
Phone Jennie Bristow, conference organiser, on:  +44 207 6120206 / +44 7976 414751

Venue: Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, London W1G 0AE. See here for a map.

Time: 9am-5pm

Download the full programme and a booking form here.