The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) is a British
charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* Ch ...
whose stated purpose is to avoid unwanted pregnancy by advocating and providing high quality, affordable services to prevent or end
unwanted pregnancies with
contraception
Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
or by
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
."
[BPAS homepage - About BPAS](_blank)
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Origin
BPAS was founded in 1968 in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
as the Birmingham Pregnancy Advisory Service. On the day that the Abortion Act 1967
The Abortion Act 1967 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom legalising abortions on certain grounds by registered practitioners, and regulating the tax-paid provision of such medical practices through the National Health Service (NHS ...
came into force, Saturday 27 April 1968, the first patients had their consultations in the front room of the then Chairman, Dr Martin Cole.[Calthorpe Clinic Medical Seminar 26 September 2007]
. At that time, patients had to travel to London for termination, but a clinic was opened in Birmingham 18 months later.[
]
Abortion
In addition to providing abortion counselling and treatment at over 40 centres across England, Wales and Scotland (over 93% of clients have their abortion treatment funded by the NHS), BPAS also provides emergency contraception
Emergency contraception (EC) is a birth control measure, used after sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy.
There are different forms of EC. Emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs), sometimes simply referred to as emergency contraceptives (ECs), o ...
, vasectomy
Vasectomy, or vasoligation, is an elective surgical procedure for male sterilization or permanent contraception. During the procedure, the male vasa deferentia are cut and tied or sealed so as to prevent sperm from entering into the urethra and ...
and sterilisation, and vasectomy reversal
Vasectomy, or vasoligation, is an elective surgical procedure for male sterilization or permanent contraception. During the procedure, the male vasa deferentia are cut and tied or sealed so as to prevent sperm from entering into the urethra and ...
services. BPAS's South London Clinic was one of the first recipients of the Department of Health
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
'You're Welcome' award in March 2009, for providing high standards of health care to young people.
BPAS gained substantial media attention in early 2011, when the charity went to the High Court seeking a legal re-definition of 'treatment' under the terms of the Abortion Act, which would have enabled women to have administered the second drug used in the 'abortion pill' treatment in their own homes. BPAS argued that such a change would have brought UK practice into line with best clinical practice, and with practice in countries such as the USA, Sweden, and France; and that it would have dramatically improved the experience of early medical abortion for women. The judge in this case did not accept the definition of 'treatment' proposed by BPAS, but confirmed that the Secretary of State for Health has the power to approve women's homes as a 'class of place' where certain abortion drugs could be taken.
In 2008 BPAS, along with other organisations in th
Voice for Choice network
called for improvements to the abortion law during the Parliamentary debate over the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill. The government guillotined discussion of the HFE Bill in such a way that proposed clauses related to abortion could not be debated.
Donor insemination
From the early 1980s BPAS carried out donor insemination
Insemination is the introduction of spermatozoon, sperm into a female’s reproductive system for the purpose of impregnating, also called Fertilization, fertilizing, the female for sexual reproduction. The sperm is introduced into the uterus of a ...
initially using fresh sperm
Sperm is the male reproductive cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm with a tail known as a flagellum, whi ...
which was produced by donors at the required time of the insemination. Sperm donation
Sperm donation is the provision by a man of his sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other 'fertility treatment' of a woman or women who are not his sexual partners in order that they may become pregnant by hi ...
treatments provided by BPAS were anonymous and the identity of donors was protected. In the mid-1980s, following concerns about HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
, sperm which had been frozen and thawed by BPAS was used instead of fresh sperm. This enabled it to be quarantined and the donors re-tested. BPAS was known to be a clinic which would provide donor insemination to lesbians.
BPAS continued to store donor sperm and to carry out treatments until the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom. It is a statutory body that regulates and inspects all clinics in the United ...
(HFEA) came into being in 1993.
Although it never carried out treatments under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, the BPAS held a storage licence until the end of 1997.
In central London, the Pregnancy Advisory Service (PAS), also carried out treatments using donor sperm (vaginal inseminations in which the donor's semen is deposited at the entrance to the cervix, technically known as intracervical insemination
Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment ...
) before the passing of the Act. Established primarily to facilitate abortions after 1968 with a clinic in Rosslyn Road, Twickenham and premises in Fitzroy Square, London, this organisation operated a donor insemination service from its premises in Charlotte Street, London W1. PAS held a treatment licence under the Act establishing the HFEA and continued to carry out artificial inseminations under its auspices. Unusually at the time, PAS operated a 'non-discrimination policy' which resulted in most of the patients of the PAS Donor Insemination Service being women without a male partner i.e. single women or coupled lesbians
A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with fem ...
.
PAS never achieved high pregnancy rates with its donor insemination service, its average pregnancy rate being less than 8%. With a few donors it did reach rates of nearly 13% but with most donors the rate was considerably less. The reason for these low success rates was largely due to the method of fertilisation used.
PAS ceased to carry out donor insemination treatments at the end of 1996 when it risked insolvency and merged with the BPAS. The clinic at Charlotte Street continued to collect and process sperm samples from donors until October 1997. The BPAS sold the client list of PAS to the London Women's Clinic (LWC) in 1997. This comprised the names of mainly coupled lesbians and single women and from that date the LWC adopted an open policy for 'choice mothers' (women without a male partner). From January 1998 for a short time the LWC operated a donor insemination clinic known as the 'Charlotte Unit'. With the consent of the donors and in compliance with general directions issued by HFEA which covered such cases at the time, the BPAS sold its remaining stored donor sperm and that of PAS to fertility clinics outside the UK for use in donor treatments.
Criticism
In late 2004, the British newspaper ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' presented a video to the British government ( Health Secretary Dr John Reid and Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Liam Donaldson
Sir Liam Joseph Donaldson (born 3 May 1949) is a British doctor. He was formerly the Chief Medical Officer for England, being the 15th occupant of the post since it was established in 1855. As such, he was principal advisor to the United King ...
) showing BPAS counsellors referring women whose pregnancies were too advanced for legal abortions in Britain (past 24 weeks) to a clinic in Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. A report filed by the Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, in September, 2005 was critical of some aspects of BPAS counselling, but concluded that, in the matter of BPAS staff referring (in the broad sense, not the strict medical definition) women with late-term pregnancies to the Ginemedex clinic, BPAS had not broken any laws. The report stated unequivocally that BPAS's ability to provide abortion and reproductive counselling and services (within its mandate) had not in any way been compromised, and that no changes in funding should result. It further stated however, that protocol for late-term abortion counselling was sorely lacking, and that the government and interested agencies must develop said protocol with all possible speed.
See also
*Abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
*Reproductive health
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, healthcare, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual wellbeing during all stages of their life.
The term can also be further de ...
*Sperm donation
Sperm donation is the provision by a man of his sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other 'fertility treatment' of a woman or women who are not his sexual partners in order that they may become pregnant by hi ...
* The Heather Trickey Essay Prize
References
External links
British Pregnancy Advisory Service
Telegraph article on 'the sting'
October 2004
The Department of Health report
PDF format, September 2005
{{authority control
British abortion providers
Birth control in the United Kingdom
Birth control providers
Charities based in Warwickshire
Health charities in the United Kingdom
Obstetrics and gynaecology organizations
Organizations established in 1968
Private providers of NHS services
Abortion-rights organisations in the United Kingdom
Stratford-upon-Avon
1968 establishments in the United Kingdom