MPs call for clampdown on unsupervised ‘pills by post’ abortions

MPs from across the political spectrum have called for an end to the dangerous ‘pills by post scheme’ in light of attempts to decriminalise abortion.

In a proposed amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, 30 MPs backed the re-introduction of in-person consultations. Since the coronavirus pandemic, women less than ten weeks pregnant have been allowed to receive abortion pills through the post after a phone or video consultation without having to take at least one of the pills under medical supervision.

MPs are expected to vote soon on changes to abortion law in England and Wales. Labour MPs Tonia Antoniazzi and Stella Creasy have tabled amendments to the same Bill, which would allow a woman to kill her unborn baby at any stage of pregnancy without sanction.

‘Dangerous’

Conservative MP Dr Caroline Johnson, who proposed the amendment to reinstate face-to-face consultations, said it would “protect women and prevent further cases of coerced or dangerous abortions arising as a result of the pills by post scheme”.

She warned: “Since its introduction, the safeguarding risks caused by the ‘pills by post’ scheme have been evident, with one man able to obtain pills by a third party to induce a woman to have an abortion against her will or knowledge. Other women have taken the pills later in pregnancy, in some cases because they were mistaken about their gestation”.

MPs across six political parties have backed the amendment, including former Conservative party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron and Labour’s Mary Glindon. According to a poll of 2,103 adults by Whitestone Insight, two-thirds of women support the move with only four per cent against.

‘Clear solution’

Right to Life UK spokeswoman Catherine Robinson explained that “tragic” cases such as Carla Foster, who took abortion pills after the 24-week limit, could have been avoided if she had received a consultation to accurately determine her gestation.

“The solution is clear. We urgently need to reinstate in-person appointments. This simple safeguard would prevent women’s lives from being put at risk from self-administered late-term abortions, a danger that would be exacerbated if abortion were ‘decriminalised’ right up to birth.”

In Great Britain, abortion is currently permitted for most reasons up to 24 weeks, and up to birth if the unborn child is deemed to have a disability. Inducing a miscarriage outside of the exemptions remains a crime, punishable by up to life in prison, though convictions are rare and have only resulted in very short sentences.

Public opinion

Earlier this month, a separate poll by Whitestone Insight suggested that the majority of adults in the UK oppose decriminalising abortion.

In a survey of 2,109 adults, 62 per cent agreed that abortion should continue to remain illegal after 24 weeks, with only 17 per cent disagreeing.

Michael Robinson, Executive Director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said the research “shows that the British public doesn’t support abortion on demand and rejects the deeply flawed arguments from the abortion lobby that it should be removed from the criminal law”.