A Reform UK county councillor has sparked fury over remarks that people on low incomes should not have babies if they cannot afford them.
Cllr Bridget Porter said that in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a “lifestyle choice” and made comparisons to “butt lifts” and “boob enhancements”.
Reform UK member Bridget Porter caused a storm over remarks about IVF
The remarks were immediately denounced as “shocking” and “revolting” by opposition members.
Cllr Porter was speaking at the Kent County Council (KCC) health overview and scrutiny committee (HOSC) this morning as members discussed reductions to IVF treatment.
Kent and Medway NHS brought in cuts to infertility services on April 1 which dropped the age limit to 38 from 40, reduced the number of IVF cycles from two to one and brought down embryo transfers from four to two.
Cllr Porter, who represents Dover north, told members: “I feel that to have one cycle of IVF and two embryo transfers is adequate for taxpayers’ money to be spending on people that are needing IVF.
“If people are on a low income they should not be bringing babies into the world if they can’t afford them. They must cut their garment according to their cloth.”
The KCC member for Dover north, Cllr Bridget Porter
Cllr Porter referenced the integrated care board’s debt to KCC, saying: “Well, I don’t see how this is going to increase their ability to pay the debt back to KCC by frivolous spending. These treatments…they are not health necessities, they are lifestyle choices.”
There were audible gasps and groans from members of the opposition parties.
Later, Cllr Porter was unrepentant about her remarks saying: “Butt lifts are lifestyle choice, having your boobs enhanced or decreased is a lifestyle choice. Do you think the NHS should pick up the tab for that? My opinion is that IVF is a lifestyle choice.”
Green Party member Stuart Jeffery said: “I just wanted to say how appalled at the comments by Ms Porter – the idea that poor people should not be able to have children and it is a lifestyle choice.
“Can I suggest you (Cllr Porter) do some diversity and inclusion training, perhaps, because clearly your understanding of the world is revolting.”
Cllr Stuart Jeffery
Liberal Democrat opposition leader Antony Hook said: “I was shocked at Bridget Porter’s words and I call on KCC leader Linden Kemkaran and her Reform UK party to denounce them immediately and, if they don’t, it will reflect on Reform. Her remarks were offensive.
“Having children is an amazing experience and anyone who wants to have children and needs medical help to have them should get that help.”
Reform UK has been approached for comment on Cllr Porter’s remarks.
HOSC voted in favour of referring the NHS decision to the Secretary of State for a possible review.
Liberal Democrat opposition leader Antony Hook
There was anger at Kent and Medway NHS, which brought the matter to the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) at Kent County Council (KCC) after the decision had already been made and presented a paper barely three pages long.
The report the NHS brought before HOSC explained the “rationale” for the changes as focusing “resources on patients most likely to benefit, maximising outcomes, value for money and the sustainability of fertility services in Kent and Medway”.
Cllr Jeffery, who argued the changes would hit the poorest hardest, proposed the motion to invite the Secretary of State James Murray to call the decision in. It was passed by 12 votes to three.
Cllr Jeffery, a former senior NHS executive who proposed the referral, said: “I’m very pleased HOSC supported my request that the decision for the cuts to IVF be referred to the Secretary of State for Health to consider a ‘call-in’.
The HOSC meeting at County Hall today, June 3
“This means he will now be able to review the decision that was made and potentially reverse it.
“The reduction in IVF that the NHS has slipped under the radar has devastating consequences for families. It discriminates against people on lower incomes and it is quite simply, class warfare.
“Cllr Porter’s comments that poor people should not have babies and that parenthood is a lifestyle choice were frankly disgusting. I hope her voters remember her despicable stance at the next election.”
Liberal Democrat opposition leader Antony Hook said: “The justification for the cuts is to save money but I was shocked that the NHS representatives didn’t know how much money it would save when that is the reason for doing it.”
Becky Fox for the NHS told members that data for IVF effectiveness after the age of 36 is “quite stark”.
She said that at the age of 35 there is a 40% success rate for live births, 20% at 40 and just 10% at 42.
Green Party KCC Cllr Rob Yates
Green Party member Rob Yates said the cuts were against the guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Other members warned that IVF cuts were likely to hit people on the lowest incomes, as they are unable to fund it privately as the cost can be around £30,000.
NICE states the upper age is 40 and recommends three full IVF cycles with consideration for three more if unsuccessful.
The NHS representatives said the guidelines were just that but had come to its decision to make the cuts based on the evidence it had.
Cllr Yates said: “To say I am angry is an understatement. I represent Cliftonville in Thanet, which is the most economically deprived district in Kent.
“In this report you are telling Cliftonville residents that their future children are not value for money.
“For all residents across Kent and Medway, this is simply a continuation of austerity; it is cruel, given falling birth rates it is unpatriotic and, quite frankly, this is class warfare.”