Event: Abortion, motherhood and the medical profession

A conference organised jointly by bpas and the Royal Society of Medicine's Sexuality and Sexual Health Section. London, Wednesday 12 June 2013.

The full programme is now published, and tickets are now on sale with a favourable early bird rate.You can see the full programme and book tickes here.

This one-day conference will explore topical issues in the management of pregnancy and women’s reproductive decision-making. Speakers will address the impact of new developments in pregnancy testing for abortion care, miscarriage, fertility treatment and ectopic pregnancy; the role of fetal imaging in discussions about abortion and the regulation of pregnancy; the impact of policy debates about information, counselling and the abortion law; and the generational experiences of doctors working within the abortion service. Clinicians, medical students, social scientists, medical ethicists and policymakers will benefit from attending.

Sessions include:

—Fetal imaging, and imagining the fetus
What scans can and can’t tell us about abortion; what the impact of the cultural visibility of the fetus is on pregnancy regulation and abortion care.

—Information, counselling and the law
What do women need to know, and why? What does ‘informed choice’ mean in practice? What has been the impact of confusions surrounding the abortion law?

—Testing positive, negative, and in between
How the semi-quantitative pregnancy test could transform the management of abortion, miscarriage, fertility treatment and ectopic pregnancy.

—A new generation of abortion doctors –challenges and opportunities

Speakers include:

Paul Blumenthal, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Stanford University; Stuart Derbyshire, Reader in Psychology, University of Birmingham; Katharine Elliot, medical student, University of Newcastle; Roy Farquharson, consultant gynaecologist, Liverpool Women’s Hospital; Jane Fisher, Director, Antenatal Results and Choices; Joanne Fletcher, Consultant Nurse, Gynaecology, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust; Patricia Lohr, Medical Director, British Pregnancy Advisory Service; John Parsons, consultant gynaecologist; Richard Lyus, doctor, British Pregnancy Advisory Service; Carol Sanger, Barbara Aronstein Black Professor of Law, Columbia Law School; Sally Sheldon, Professor of Medical Law and Ethics, Kent Law School; Zoe Williams, columnist, The Guardian; author, What Not To Expect When You’re Expecting

For further information, email Jennie Bristow or call 07976 414751