A student in Wales who underwent a DIY home abortion was rushed to hospital after the drugs caused serious health complications, including pain and heavy bleeding, which lasted for two weeks. Michael Robinson, SPUC Director of Communications, said: “It is totally unacceptable that women are having to endure such a dangerous ordeal. It is vital that the government reverse this cruel policy immediately and that full protection is restored to unborn children and mothers.”
Student Jennifer (not her real name) spoke to the BBC, describing her ordeal with the DIY abortion drugs.
The DIY home abortion programme means that women can get chemical abortion drugs following a phone or video call. Women are left to perform their own abortion at home without medical supervision or support. Women do not have the opportunity to meet a doctor in person, and the abortion drugs are delivered through the post.
Jennifer obtained abortion drugs following an online consultation. She described how she did not expect to suffer so many side effects. After two weeks of heavy bleeding, Jenifer was rushed to hospital and had to undergo medical treatment.
Jennifer said: “I ended up just stripping off, throwing my stuff in the washing machine, getting in the bath and then using the shower head on the hot setting on my stomach.
"I just let the water run and I actually started listening to some podcasts to distract myself from the pain.”
“A disservice to women”
Jennifer is not the only woman to have spoken out about the dangerous DIY abortion programme.
In February 2021, Kirsty, from England, said that her DIY home abortion was “like a scene out of a horror movie". Kirsty described how she wished healthcare professionals had offered her more counselling and compassion. She said that her home will never be “safe or happy place again” as it will now always be the place where her child died.
Similarly, Sophie who had a DIY home abortion decided to speak out about her ordeal because “she didn’t want other women to suffer” like she did. Sophie said that after taking the abortion drugs, there were “big chunks coming out of her” and she was left alone to grieve in “extreme sadness". Sophie said abortion providers across the country have to be “called out” for “keeping women in the dark” about the reality of abortion.
The impact of DIY home abortion on women’s physical and emotional health has been repeatedly called into question.
A prominent Scottish obstetrician/gynaecologist recently spoke out, calling the abortion programme a “disservice to women” and reversal to “backstreet abortions".