‘Pill by mail’ abortion to become permanent option in England and Wales under new law

Women in England and Wales will have permanent access to early medical abortions from home next week after the method has been tested during the pandemic.

“Pill-in-the-mail” abortions, which can be used to abort a pregnancy in the first 10 weeks, were introduced in early 2020, when traditional abortion services were shut down.

The move will allow thousands of women to terminate their pregnancies from the privacy of their homes instead of going to a clinic or hospital.

Women will always be able to get early medical abortion pills via a phone call or online consultation with a home doctor.

Ministers initially wanted to remove the program this summer, but were turned down by a lawmaker in March.

The health and welfare ministry said doctors should confirm “in good faith” that the pills are only used to stop early pregnancies.

The decision comes after a record number of layoffs in England, Wales last year.

According to government data, approximately 215,000 abortions were performed in both countries in 2021, an increase of 2% from the previous year.

More than half of the pills were delivered home by mail, according to the report from the Office of Health Promotion and Inequalities.

Health Minister Maggie Throup announced the move today: “The health and safety of women who need access to abortion services is paramount.

“With these measures, women will have more choices in how and where they access abortion services, and ensure that reliable data is collected to ensure their continued safety.”

Doctors will also have to record data on the place of consultation and the place of termination.

The government said this data will allow it to analyze trends in abortion at home to better understand the use of remote services.

The government said guidelines by the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health on giving abortion pills to children under 18 will be published soon.

This will ensure that children who need abortion services have access, but that protective measures are in place in case of suspected abuse.

“Pills in the mail” consist of two medicines, mifepristone and misoprostol, taken at least 24 hours apart.

Women first take mifepristone with the pill, which blocks progesterone, a hormone needed to maintain pregnancy.

Second, misoprostol contains a hormone called prostaglandin, which causes the uterus to contract and fall.

According to pre-pandemic rules, women took the first pill in an abortion clinic or hospital under the supervision of a doctor.

They can then take the second pill at home for up to 48 hours.

When the virus emerged, ministers changed the rules to allow both pills to be taken at home after a teleconsultation to ensure women still had access to early abortions.

Data from the Office for Health Promotion and Inequalities show that 214,869 women had abortions in England and Wales in 2021; this is a 2% increase from the more than 210,000 registered women in 2020.

British women who are more than nine weeks and six days pregnant can go to the NHS for a surgical abortion.

The general limit for these abortions in the UK is 24 weeks of pregnancy, but they can be done in very limited circumstances.

These include whether the mother’s life would be endangered by continuing the pregnancy, or if a test shows that the baby has a serious disability.

Surgical abortions account for a fraction of the total number of abortions performed in the UK, accounting for just 13% of abortions in the past year.

The number of abortions among people over the age of 35 has increased in the last decade. There were 27,199 cancellations in 2011, rising to 40,789 in 2021.