Abortion activists are pushing to increase the shockingly dangerous practice of Do It Yourself abortions. The abort-for-profit British PRegnancy Adivsory Service (BPAS) is leading the charge calling on the Government to scrap the ten-week rule on DIY abortions in England and Wales.
They claim thathome abortions are “safe” after twelve weeks’ gestation, and that “unnecessary restrictions” should be lifted.
According to latest figures, there were 252,122 abortions in England and Wales in 2022, of which 61 per cent were chemically induced at home during the first ten weeks of pregnancy.
Chemically induced abortions prior to ten weeks gestation involve taking two pills. The first, mifepristone, prevents the baby’s development, while the second, misoprostol, induces a miscarriage. After twelve weeks, further doses of misoprostol may be required.
Dr Patricia Lohr, Director of Research and Innovation at BPAS, complained that current abortion laws in England and Wales “block medical innovation and restrict women’s choices by preventing the use of abortion pills outside clinics after ten weeks”.
She added: “The law must change, and it must change urgently.”
Claiming that abortion “is an essential form of healthcare”, RCOG President Dr Ranee Thakar also welcomed the study and repeated the association’s call for the Government to remove existing protections for the unborn.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, women seeking an early abortion were required to attend a face-to-face consultation with a medical professional before they could be given abortion pills, at least one of which was then taken in a supervised medical environment.
However, pro-abortion activists were successful in a campaign to remove this requirement during lockdown, meaning women less than ten weeks pregnant can now procure the pills after a phone or video consultation, with the pills then posted to them. Unlike the Swedish study, there need be no medical supervision at all.
Earlier this year, a poll by Whitestone Insight revealed that 71 per cent of women support a return to in-person appointments, while only 9 per cent back the current rules.