Dr Jonathan Lord, medical director at MSI, has admitted that DIY abortion, otherwise known as “pills by post”, is to blame for the “unprecedented” rise in investigations of women suspected of having illegal abortions.
Dr Lord, an infamous pro-abortion advocate, admitted that “pills by post”, which allows women to have at-home abortions up to ten weeks without an in-person consultation, is to blame for the investigations of women suspected of procuring illegal abortions.
A recent BBC article described Dr Lord as believing that recent investigations into illegal abortions are linked to the availability of the pills by post scheme. This system allows abortion providers to send abortion pills to women without an in-person consultation. This lack of basic checks and safeguards has led to women being sent the pills over the legal limit, making it possible for illegal late term abortions to occur.
Another “abortion rights expert”, Dr Claire Pierson, also recently conceded that “pills by post” had led to such investigations, as reported by SPUC. “Without being able to present in front of a medical professional some of the basic checks weren’t happening”, Dr Pierson told Grazia Daily.
The scheme, first introduced in 2020 in response to lockdown, was later made permanent in 2022. A number of women have subsequently been investigated, most notably Carla Foster who was found guilty of illegally procuring an abortion at 32-34 weeks by lying over the phone to an abortion provider.
Pro-abortion campaigners like Dr Lord have since used her case and others to call for decriminalisation, they say, to prevent any more investigations.
Dr Lord authored 2024 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) guidance telling medics not to report illegal abortions or risk “fitness to practise proceedings”.
The same RCOG direction stated that “the ‘safety of the fetus’ is not a valid reason… for breaching confidentiality to protect the safety of others… [since] the fetus does not have personhood status”.
Dr Lord was also one of several pro-abortion ideologues who were reprimanded by Justice Edward Pepperall for authoring an “inappropriate” letter that sought to influence the trial of Carla Foster.
DIY abortion harms women
SPUC’s Michael Robinson, Executive Director (Public Affairs and Legal Services), said: “Abortion ideologues and their supporters in Parliament who sponsored ‘pills by post’ have cynically used the Carla Foster case to advocate for decriminalisation, not to protect women but to further normalise abortion at whatever cost to the mothers involved.
“Most recent Government data shows that abortion pills have a complication rate of 33% for women 13 to 19 weeks pregnant, rising to 48% for aborted pregnancies over 20 weeks. If pro-abortion extremists get what they want, more women than ever before will be exposed to the risks of late-term chemical abortions that can cause haemorrhaging and sepsis.
“Current proposals to decriminalise abortion, far from protecting women’s well-being, will put women at even more risk by removing the only deterrent in law. If advocates like Dr Lord truly care about women, then they should call for the immediate repeal of the Government’s disastrous DIY abortion scheme.”