MPs from across the political spectrum have called for an end to the dangerous ‘pills by post scheme’ in light of attempts to decriminalise abortion.
In a proposed amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, 30 MPs backed the re-introduction of in-person consultations. Since the coronavirus pandemic, women less than ten weeks pregnant have been allowed to receive abortion pills through the post after a phone or video consultation without having to take at least one of the pills under medical supervision.
Conservative MP Dr Caroline Johnson, who proposed the amendment to reinstate face-to-face consultations, said it would “protect women and prevent further cases of coerced or dangerous abortions arising as a result of the pills by post scheme”.
She warned: “Since its introduction, the safeguarding risks caused by the ‘pills by post’ scheme have been evident, with one man able to obtain pills by a third party to induce a woman to have an abortion against her will or knowledge. Other women have taken the pills later in pregnancy, in some cases because they were mistaken about their gestation”.