Since March 2020, around 500 women a day in Britain have performed their own chemical abortion at home with no medical supervision or support. This is direct result of the Government’s pills by post home abortion regime which was introduced earlier this year in response to the nationwide lockdown.
SPUC Campaign Research Officer, Margaret Akers said: “The health and wellbeing of women has been pushed aside to make way for an extreme and dangerous abortion regime. This is a total betrayal.
“Chemical abortions using abortion pills can have severe complications. Many women in the UK have spoken out describing the trauma of being trapped at home during lockdown whilst having to perform their own abortion. A leaked NHS email has also revealed how at least 13 incidents under the regime are being investigated, including two maternal deaths. How far will this go before policy makers decide to put the health of women before an extreme abortion agenda?”
The abortion pills by post programme was developed by Britain’s biggest abortion provider, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).
The pills by post programme means that women do not receive advice or guidance from a GP. Instead, women can telephone or video-call an abortion provider through a system known as ‘telemedical’ abortion. Lethal abortion drugs are sent through the post to enable women to perform their own abortion at home.
It has been widely reported that, since March 2020, over 90,000 women have used the pills by post scheme and have performed their own abortions at home. This equates to an average of 500 women a day.
Ministers and the abortion lobby are now gearing up to make the home abortion regime a permanent measure. A public consultation is expected to take place.
What have these 90,000 women had to endure?
DIY chemical abortions are carried out using two lethal doses of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol. The first drug will starve the unborn baby of any nutrients, resulting in his or her death. The second drug will then force the unborn child out of the mother’s body. Women have then got to dispose of the remains of their aborted child at home.
Many women who have had chemical abortions have reported heavy bleeding, severe pain and intense nausea.
SPUC’s Mrs Akers added: “We know that during lockdown, domestic violence has soared. With no face to face consultation necessary, how many of these 90,000 women have been coerced or forced into an abortion by an abusive partner?
“Additionally, a phone consultation is a dangerous basis on which to make abortion pills available. It could be very difficult to make a proper assessment of the woman’s health over the phone. For example, if a woman has an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy, such a system could allow the abortion to go ahead with life-threatening consequences. The pills by post programme offers no consultation, no safeguarding, no protection or care.”
Abortion drug scandal
Earlier this year, SPUC reported on a leaked NHS email which revealed that the pills by post programme was crippling the health of women.
The leaked email from a regional Chief Midwife at NHS England and NHS Improvement stated that 13 cases surrounding the scheme are currently under investigation. These cases include the murder of a baby born alive after an DIY abortion attempt and abortion drugs being delivered to women past the recommended 10-week time limit.
The email also cites two maternal deaths.
SPUC is urging supporters to email their MP and with a request to contact the Department of Health and Social Care to demand an immediate inspection of all abortion providers sending pills through the post.
More information on SPUC’s Tell the Truth campaign can be found here.