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Ghada Hatem is a gynecologist and founder of the Maison des Femmes, a structure that welcomes women victims of sexual violence. It warns of the difficulties of access to the Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy during the confinement period.
"We, professionals in abortion centers, are worried.
Indeed, the Covid 19 epidemic occupies almost all of the caregivers who work with courage and determination to save the lives of their fellow citizens, sometimes at the risk of their own.
However, patients still need to be treated for their acute or chronic pathologies, and abortion is no exception.
It may seem ridiculous to worry about this care – because abortion is one – during this pandemic. But confinement, and often the impossibility of explaining to loved ones (violent spouses, very traditional parents) their concern about a delayed period or a positive pregnancy test make it difficult to go to the centers. abortions still open. We can also be ashamed of explaining the reason to the police officer responsible for ensuring the containment is respected. You may find yourself facing a closed door because caregivers are sick and absent. One may have passed the term and consider an abortion abroad. Closing the borders adds to the difficulty of finding the means necessary to make this option impractical.
This is why we have, in a forum signed by 200 professionals and 1500 personalities of all stripes, asked the government for 3 exceptional measures:
– authorize abortion at home, if possible after teleconsultation, up to 7 weeks of pregnancy
– remove the 48-hour deadline requirement for minors in order to limit travel
– and finally, authorize a 15-day extension of the legal period for abortion, that is, until the end of 14 weeks of pregnancy.
Why 15 days? It is certain that this delay will not resolve all situations. But abortion by aspiration under general anesthesia for up to 14 weeks is technically easy to perform by trained doctors, and allows ambulatory care. Beyond this term, it is necessary to organize a "mini" childbirth whose modalities are radically different.
Being a doctor also means preserving the future
It seems that the government, which affirmed that abortion was an urgent care, will respond favorably to our 2 first requests but despite a certain openness in the speech of Mr Véran, our 3rd request received no clear answer which seems unacceptable to us.
To all those who explain to us that the law allows late abortions for "medico-psycho-social" reasons, we reply that this method is rarely used, that many teams refuse to take care of it and that the course that this requires patients to be laborious: they must prove to a psychiatrist, a social worker, a gynecologist and a decision-making committee that this solution is necessary because the continuation of the pregnancy "jeopardizes their vital prognosis" . Many doctors refuse to sign such a certificate claiming that the patient is neither schizophrenic, nor suicidal, nor suffering from a fatal pathology that her pregnancy would aggravate.
Will the end of confinement make these doctors more committed and empathetic? We doubt it. On the other hand, it will allow all the patients who do not consult today to come and ask us for help, and we will have to be by their side.
And to all those who accuse us of wanting to take advantage of the situation, to waste time killing lives rather than saving them, we remind you that the future of an unwanted child is worrying, and that having a child with an aggressor places you under his influence forever.
Being a doctor also means preserving the future. "
Ghada Hatem
Unify is a partner of La Maison des Femmes which supports vulnerable women and victims of violence. This structure, managed since 2016 by Doctor Ghada Hatem, located in St Denis, is a unique place of welcome and care, made up of a multidisciplinary team of doctors and psychologists. To publicize its action, we launched a prevention campaign designed and relayed by our sites. Entitled #besoindesavoir, this device includes original videos focusing on prevention but also highlighting the work of La Maison des femmes through portraits of the healthcare team or patients. Unify is financially committed and also invites its communities to follow the movement by making a donation via the Lydia application or online on the HelloAsso website, Unify doubling each donation made (up to 50,000 euros)
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by Ghada Hatem