The development was expected, but the context in which it has just been made official gives it particular relief: in the wake of the presentation, in the Council of Ministers, Tuesday, December 12, of the constitutional bill relating to the freedom of recourse to voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion), the government announced the“enlargement” of the possibility given to midwives to perform instrumental abortions – in the operating room, therefore – in health establishments.
“Beyond the ability given to them to perform medical abortions since 2016, this new skill constitutes a strong response to the difficulties of access [à l’avortement] observed in certain territories », defended the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, in a communicatedTuesday evening.
If it is a question of“enlargement”, it is also because the turn has already been taken: voted in the law of March 2022 aimed at strengthening the right to abortion, this skill given to midwives has been tested in twenty-six health establishments for a year . THE ” frame “ experimentation had even been laid down even earlier, in the Social Security financing law for 2021, then in a decree which defined the conditions required in terms of the organization of hospitals, experience and training of health professionals. -women.
Hurry up
This is part of the challenge for those interested, who are counting the days before publication, “imminent”we whisper on Avenue de Ségur, of the new decree. Time is running out: the experimentation stage officially ends on Thursday, December 14. “We fear limits, boundaries, points out Camille Dumortier, vice-president of the Union Organization of Midwives. It would be a shame to show progress and, in concrete terms, restrict its scope. »
A first draft of the text, which circulated at the end of November, envisaged reducing the time limit for instrumental abortions for midwives to 14 weeks of amenorrhea (i.e. 12 weeks of pregnancy), whereas it can go up to 16 weeks. amenorrhea (14 weeks of pregnancy) when the abortion is performed by a doctor. “This is what was specified in article 1 of the draft decree which was submitted to us two weeks ago, and which did not suit us”underlines Isabelle Derrendinger, president of the National Council of the Order of Midwives.
“The lengthening [de deux semaines] of this deadline was set in stone by the Albane Gayot law [promulguée en mars 2022, du nom de l’ancienne députée du Val-de-Marne]she recalls. Respecting it is not just a question of skills for midwives: it is first of all, at a time when medical deserts are increasing, a problem of respecting the rights of patients. »
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