Women ‘should keep right to abortions at home after pandemic’
Changes to the healthcare system that allow women to terminate pregnancies without visiting a hospital should be made permanent following the coronavirus pandemic, campaigners have insisted.
Engender, which campaigns for women's rights, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and 25 women's organisations, human rights bodies and healthcare providers have written to Scottish women's health minister Maree Todd, calling for telemedical abortion services to be retained.
The organisations insist changestothesystem,brought in as a result of the pandemic have "eliminated some of the unnecessary barriers to quality abortion care in Scotland" and have "increased privacy and women's personal comfort as well as reducing out of pocket expenses".
A total of 13,815 abortions
were carried out in Scotland in 2020 – the second highest number on record.
And since March last year, women having a medical abortion have been able to take both sets of pills at home.
Before this those who wished to end a pregnancy had to visit a hospital clinic to take the first set of drugs.
The Scottish Government has carried out a consultation on early medical abortion services, with both Engender and the BPAS clear that the current arrangements should remain in place after the pandemic.
In their letter to Ms Todd, the groups pointed out: "For women living in rural or island communities, women with childcare and caring responsibilities or women who experience men's violence, access to well supported, quality abortion care at a time and place of their choosing has been enhanced by the introduction of telemedical services."
They said: "Attending a clinic is not always a necessary element of quality early medical abortion care.
"Telemedical services are safe, effective and accessible. They enable women in Scotland to make the right choice for them about their health regardless of geographic, economic or social circumstances.”
BPAS chief executive Clare Murphy said: "Our research has shown that 97% of women reported they were satisfied or very satisfied with the service – findings echoed by Scottish research.”