Let women take abortion pills at home, say doctors

WOMEN should be able to take abortion pills in their own home without seeing a doctor face to face, senior doctors have said.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) says women should be able to obtain abortion pills following an online chat, such as via Skype or Facetime.

Its report, Better for Women, aims to remove barriers to accessing care by making more use of technology. Doctors would be able to give consent without a face-to-face appointment, then women would collect the tablets from their nearest pharmacy, a spokesman for the college said.

Women are already allowed to take the second medicine needed for an early medical abortion, misoprostol, at home. The RCOG report said the Department of Health and Social Care should also now consider allowing women to take the first drug, mifepristone, in their own home.

Professor Lesley Regan, president of the RCOG, said: “In 2018 the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) greatly improved women’s experience of abortion care when it allowed women to take misoprostol, the second drug used to affect an early medical abortion, at home.

“Since then women no longer have to suffer the distress or embarrassment of bleeding and cramping pain during their journey home.

“In 2019 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended greater use of online and telephone consultations to streamline the provision of abortion care … the DHSC should also consider allowing women, after their assessment, to take mifepristone in the comfort of their own home.”