GMC backs down after Christian doctor Dermot Kearney challenges restrictions on anti-abortion pills following complaint by MSI Reproductive Choices

By Philip Bradfield
Published 6th Mar 2022, 19:12 BST
Updated 6th Mar 2022, 19:49 BST
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The General Medical Council (GMC) has dramatically lifted restrictions on a Christian NHS consultant who had been banned from providing emergency support to women in crisis pregnancies, ahead of his planned challenge to the measures in the High Court this week.

Campaign group Christian Concern reported that the GMC dismissed every allegation against Dr Dermot Kearney and concluded that there is no case to answer.

Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Dr Kearney, an experienced Hospital consultant from Tyne and Wear, had been blocked from providing Abortion Pill Reversal treatment (APR) in 2021 by an Interim Orders Tribunal, following a GMC referral.

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APR involves administering the natural hormone progesterone to a pregnant woman who wishes to reverse the effects of the first abortion pill, mifepristone. A hearing challenging the ban was due in the High Court this week.

Amrita Kaur told the GMC how Dr Dermot Kearney helped save her baby's life after she had taken an abortion pill.Amrita Kaur told the GMC how Dr Dermot Kearney helped save her baby's life after she had taken an abortion pill.
Amrita Kaur told the GMC how Dr Dermot Kearney helped save her baby's life after she had taken an abortion pill.

After dropping the case against Dr Kearney, the GMC stated: “The case examiners have considered the information provided by MSI Reproductive Choices... and decided to conclude this case with no further action.”

Responding to the outcome, Dr Kearney, said: “I am relieved and delighted to have been exonerated. I have been the victim of a coordinated campaign by senior figures in the abortion industry who have been determined to prevent women in urgent need from accessing abortion reversal treatment.” Dr Kearney is a former President of the Catholic Medical Association (UK).

MSI Reproductive Choices responded: “We are extremely concerned that some groups are still recommending progesterone as a means of ‘abortion reversal’. There is no evidence to suggest that this works and some evidence that it may even be harmful.” The GMC declined to comment.

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