DIY abortion pills are given to 900 women in just one year
MoRe than 900 ‘DIY abortions’ have taken place across Scotland since rules were changed last year.
last october ministers said they would make it legal for women less than nine weeks pregnant to take an abortion pill at home.
It made Scotland the first part of the UK where women can take misoprostol, which initiates labour, at home after it is prescribed by a doctor.
It has emerged that 911 women have been given the drug since the rules were changed. But the true figure could be higher, as not all boards who offer the service provided figures.
Four NHS boards – Tayside, Fife, lanarkshire, and Ayrshire and
‘In control of their treatment’
Arran, do not offer the service. The Scottish Government said it is working with NHS boards on the provision and improvement of abortion services so more women have access to the pill.
A Government spokesman said: ‘Scotland was the first part of the UK to offer women the opportunity to take misoprostol at home, when clinically appropriate – a decision that allows women to be in control of their treatment and to be as comfortable as possible during this procedure.
‘We are working with NHS boards on the provision and improvement of abortion services across Scotland.’
He added: ‘The decision to permit the taking of misoprostol at home is a matter for clinicians in discussion with their patients.’
of the 911 abortions, a figure acquired through a Freedom of Information request, 536 took place in Glasgow.
Several boards offering the treatment could not provide data or only had some details.
latest figures show that in 2017 there was a five-year high of 12,212 abortions in Scotland.
The legal change, which allows the pill to be taken outside of clinical settings, was made to avoid situations where miscarriages were induced while women were travelling home from hospital.
Jillian Merchant, of Abortion Rights Scotland, said it was ‘very disappointing’ that some health boards were ‘dragging their feet’ in providing the service, which she said is ‘not something which should be determined by postcode’.
Miss Merchant added: ‘There is no reason why a number of Scottish health boards have failed to implement this policy.’
She called on the Government to ‘step in and ensure all women across Scotland have equal access to all abortion services’.
Monica lennon, Scottish labour health spokesman, criticised the delays to the universal roll-out of a policy she said will improve abortion healthcare.
She demanded that Health Secretary Jeane Freeman makes it ‘clear to health boards that she expects access to misoprostol to be rolled out immediately’.
But John Deighan, of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said each of the ‘DIY abortions’ represent a ‘catastrophic failure for a woman and the child she was carrying’.
He added: ‘The Abortion Act never envisaged women having abortions on their own with no medical supervision and in locations that we can in no way be convinced are safe.
‘I would call on any woman to refuse the dangerous pills they are being offered to abort their baby.
‘I would also urge health boards not to support this policy.’
A medical abortion is carried out through two pills. Mifepristone is taken first and then misoprostol induces a miscarriage.
Dr Frances elliot, medical director for NHS Fife, said the board is ‘exploring the best way’ to implement the take-home service.
A spokesman for NHS Tayside said the treatment will be ‘implemented in the coming weeks’.
An NHS lanarkshire spokesman said: ‘We are working towards introducing misoprostol and expect to do so soon.’
NHS Ayrshire and Arran was unavailable for comment.
‘Urge boards not to support policy’