Why is the Government trying to close an 'outstanding' sexual health centre?

Closures of sexual health centres could lead to an increase in teen pregnancies Photo: Alamy (posed by model)

Contraception. Chances are you’ve used it or directly benefited from someone else who has. Available in various forms, it enables women to avoid unwanted pregnancy and to make independent choices about their lives.

Here in the UK we are hugely privileged to have access to a plethora of safe, effective and free methods of birth control, with millions of attendances for contraceptive care made every year.

But despite this we still have one of the highest rates of teen conceptions in Europe, over 180,000 abortions were carried out in the UK in 2014 and GPs have expressed their frustrations at not having adequate time and resources to prescribe contraception appropriately.

So what if access to contraceptive services for UK women was set to be limited even further?

“Closure of the Margaret Pyke centre would mean the loss of a high quality, dedicated service that has taken decades to develop.”

Why is the Government trying to close an "outstanding" sexual health centre?