Warning over surge in illegal abortion pills

RISING numbers of women are buying illegal abortion pills on the internet, experts warn.

Some 375 packages of abortion pills were seized last year by the drugs watchdog on their way to British addresses.

The number has jumped from 270 in 2015, 180 in 2014 and just five in 2013.

And this is likely to be the tip of the iceberg since many other pills successfully reached homes.

The data was obtained by the country’s leading abortion provider, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which said many women were ‘ desperate’. By law, the pills, which are taken in two doses over 48 hours, are meant to be administered by a doctor or nurse only after two doctors have given consent. They contain powerful drugs that can cause serious complications including bleeding, infection and, in rare cases, death.

But they can be easily obtained from online pharmacies based in the UK for as little as £15. BPAS believes more women are buying the pills online because they have become so easily available. The charity also suspects women are reluctant to take time off work to attend a clinic, are unable to leave home as they have children to look after – or feel embarrassed to go.

BPAS, which obtained the figures from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, is campaigning to decriminalise abortion.

Currently, a woman can face life in jail if she ends her pregnancy herself as it is still a crime to ‘procure a miscarriage’ except in certain circumstances.

Ann Furedi, BPAS’s chief executive, said: ‘It’s clear for some women the barriers to clinic-based treatment feel insurmountable. These are women in desperate and difficult circumstances. They are not criminals.’

One organisation, Women on Web, sends abortion pills to countries where access to abortion is restricted, including Northern Ireland. It will occasionally send them to women in England, such as those from religious families.

One woman who contacted them from the UK said: ‘It’s impossible for me to get to a clinic due to having a disabled daughter who I can’t leave and I have no one else I can trust. Please I’m really desperate.’

Another said: ‘I was hoping to have a termination in the comfort of my home without judgmental eyes and without worrying about my husband knowing. I fear what would happen if he did.’

‘These women are desperate’