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This Thursday, a new decree should authorize midwives to practice instrumental abortion in health establishments. An enlargement which intends to combat the difficulties of access to abortion in certain territories.
It’s official. A little over a year after an experiment carried out (and successful) in 26 pilot establishments, midwives will now be able to perform instrumental abortions themselves throughout France. The decree should appear tomorrow at the latest in the Official Journal.
Fight against territorial inequalities on abortion
Since 2016, midwives have already been able to carry out medical abortions to improve the care of women. Voted in the law of March 2022 aimed at strengthening the right to abortion, instrumental abortion entrusted to midwives today “constitutes a strong response to access difficulties” Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau said in a statement Tuesday.
Indeed, the decision faces a reality “in certain territories where today abortion is not possible because there is a lack of practitioners”, said this Tuesday the Minister responsible for Equality between women and men Bérangère Couillard, during a visit to the Pitié Salpêtrière hospital in Paris. Giving more prerogatives to midwives could improve the network in place.
Midwives who will be compulsorily trained
If they are carried out by midwives, the abortions must however take place in a hospital environment. The final discussions on the details of the decree and the conditions of exercise are currently underway. Only trained midwives will be able to perform abortions. “I hope there will be many of them, to be able to overcome the difficulties” laythe minister could hear.
Midwives will be able to perform these instrumental abortions up to 16 weeks of amenorrhea, or 14 weeks of pregnancy, as voted by parliamentarians. A first draft decree reducing this deadline was criticized at the end of November by midwives’ unions.
To complete this announcement, the Ministry of Health also “decided on a 25% increase in the rates paid to health establishments for carrying out abortions, which had not been reviewed since 2016 and were significantly lower than the costs borne by establishments for this activity.
Announcements which come at a time when the constitutional bill relating to the freedom to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy was presented yesterday in the Council of Ministers.