Your right to abortion education

Learning about pregnancy choices

As a young person you have the right to make decisions about issues that affect your own life. The reality is that unintended pregnancy is likely to affect all of us at some point in our lives, either directly or indirectly.

To make an informed choice about pregnancy – or to help others to make an informed choice – everyone needs an opportunity to think through the issues pregnancy raises, to distinguish the facts about abortion from the fiction, and to know where to go for non-judgmental help and advice.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions about abortion, but individuals also have the right to make decisions for themselves. More than one in four women in England and Wales will make the decision to have an abortion by the time they are 45.

What your school should teach about abortion

Abortion is a topic addressed in schools usually either within the sex education element of PSHE, or in Religious Education. At A-level it can also be addressed in General Studies or Liberal Studies.

As a young person learning about abortion in any of these subjects you should be given the opportunity to: 

• Consider a range of religious and secular viewpoints about abortion.
• Explore, develop and reflect on your own opinions.
• Be listened to respectfully.
• Know what the law says about abortion in the UK.
• Be given accurate information about abortion in relation to women’s health.
• Know how to protect yourself against unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection
• Know where to go for impartial help and advice.

What can go wrong

• Some visitors might make people feel upset or guilty or ashamed of their views or of their experiences.
• Sometimes visitors or teachers show people images of abortions or fetuses that can be upsetting.
• Sometimes the information you are given about contraception, abortion or the development of the fetus may be inaccurate.
• The government guidance on teaching abortion says that abortion shouldn’t be taught simply as a matter of right or wrong, because of the complicated nature of unplanned pregnancy. This can mean for example, that debates are not always the most helpful way of learning about the issue.

Schools often make use of outside visitors when covering abortion in the curriculum.  Outside visitors have a responsibility to provide non-judgmental, accurate information about abortion and to ensure that the young people they work with feel safe and respected. If you are ever unsure of the accuracy of any information you receive about abortion, you may like to read Facts about abortion, or check it against the Royal College of Obstetrician’s booklet, ‘About abortion care: what you need to know’.

What you can do

If for any reason you are not satisfied with the abortion education you receive at school you can take action!

• Email us to tell us what you did and didn't learn, whether you found it interesting, whether you had an outside speaker, whether you felt the presentation of the subject was balanced or not and what you would like to learn about abortion.
• Fill in our feedback form How is abortion taught in your school?
• Write a letter to your head of year, PSHE co-ordinator, RE co-ordinator, head teacher and governors letting them know what you think.
• Pass on Education For Choice’s Good Practice Guide to Abortion Education to your teacher.