Fears women may die after home abortions
CONCERNS have been raised that it is “only a matter of time” before women in Wales start dying at home due to a change in abortion legislation.
At the end of March, the Welsh Government announced that women in Wales would have access to abortion services at home, with Health Minister Vaughan Gething saying it would allow women to access “key services without being exposed to unnecessary risk during these challenging times”.
It means women can now carry out an ‘early medical abortion’ in their own homes by taking two pills – mifepristone and misoprostol.
Before the change in regulation, women would have to visit a hospital or a registered clinic and, after a medical consultation, take the first pill. The second pill was then taken between 24 and 48 hours later, either at home or during a second visit to a medical facility.
Now, women can receive both pills by post and take them both at home, allowing them to terminate their pregnancy within the first 10 weeks without leaving their house.
However, this is claimed to have led to tragedy in England, with reports last month that a newborn baby and two women had in fact died after abortion drugs were taken at home.
One incident involved a ‘home abortion’ being carried out at 28 weeks.
The Welsh Government confirmed there had been no such cases in Wales, but despite the new legislation being a “temporary measure”, it could be in place for up to two years.
This has led to concern that the tragedies being investigated in England could occur in Wales.
Tony Young, information officer at the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (Wales), said: “Soon after the introduction of lockdown measures in March, the law relating to abortion was amended to allow pregnant women seeking an abortion to perform their own abortions, after a brief consultation, online or by phone, to determine whether it was safe and legal for them to do so.
He claimed: “We have discovered, however, that over that period, one woman carried out a ‘home abortion’ after 28 weeks of pregnancy – 18 weeks after the legal limit for such abortions.
“One baby was aborted alive, and left to die, and two women have themselves died – one of them of sepsis while seeking urgent treatment at a hospital A&E department after taking abortion pills. The other was found dead the morning after taking the first abortion pill.
“Vaughan Gething has assured us that no such tragedies have occurred in Wales, but it is surely only a matter of time before they do. To put it simply, ‘home abortion’ pills are now killing women, as well as babies. We have called upon our MSs to urge Mr Gething to carry out an immediate inspection of all abortion providers that send pills by post. These tragedies cannot be allowed to continue.”
The Welsh Government insisted that abortions carried out at home are only done so after a consultation with a health professional, and that pregnant women physically have to attend a medical facility if there is “any concern”.
A spokesman for the Welsh Government said: “We introduced these temporary measures, developed and supported by clinicians, to improve safety during the Covid-19 pandemic. The service is provided via teleconference and clinicians must arrange for a woman to attend clinic if there’s any concern about the accuracy of the gestation stage.
“We are aware of the cases in England and whilst each is tragic, they represent a tiny proportion of home abortions that have taken place since the regulations change. There have been no such cases in Wales.”