A coalition of pro-life groups has urged the Westminster Government to end ‘DIY’ home abortions.
Under temporary Covid-19 regulations, women have been allowed to take abortion pills at home without medical supervision since last March. But Westminster, Holyrood and Cardiff Bay have recently consulted on permanently extending the emergency measures.
Care For Women, a partnership of nine pro-life organisations, has been formed to expose the impact of the policies on both women and the unborn. According to its website, 75,000 abortions have taken place since the rules were introduced.
‘No proper assessment’
Regan King, CEO of the Pregnancy Crisis Helpline, said that there has been “next to no” proper assessment of mothers asking to undergo home abortions.
He noted an increase of women calling the helpline in “considerable distress” after realising the reality of having such abortions at home.
Christian Concern’s Chief Executive Andrea Williams added that, despite “clear promises” the measures would only be temporary, “the government is now consulting on making the service permanent” but “must reverse it”.
Coercion
Earlier this month, a poll found that nearly nine in ten GPs were concerned that making DIY abortions permanent could lead to vulnerable women being pressurised into having an abortion by an abusive partner.
It also found that 82 per cent of respondents were concerned about “the possibility of abortion pills being falsely obtained for another person”.
John Deighan, Deputy CEO of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, called the findings a “searing indictment of a rushed, badly-thought through policy”.
Sharp rise in ambulance call-outs following home abortion pills
