UK – Renewed calls for abortion clinic buffer zones to protect women from abuse

29th May
By PA News Agency

Medical leaders have made a renewed call for legislation to protect women from “unacceptable” harassment and intimidation outside abortion clinics.

The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH), which represents more than 14,000 UK doctors, has issued a new position statement calling for a nationwide network of buffer zones around abortion clinics.

Continued: https://www.largsandmillportnews.com/news/20174360.renewed-calls-abortion-clinic-buffer-zones-protect-women-abuse/


MPs vote to continue abortion ‘pills by post’ scheme in England

Government will be forced to abandon its plan to end a two-year trial of the scheme in August

Denis Campbell Health policy editor
Wed 30 Mar 2022

Women in England will be able to access a “pills by post” abortion service indefinitely after MPs voted today to compel ministers to make it permanent instead of scrapping the scheme in September.

The decision will benefit tens of thousands of women every year who want to take the two tablets needed to end a pregnancy in the privacy of their own home rather than having to take the first at a clinic or hospital. They have to be taken within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/30/mps-vote-to-continue-abortion-pills-by-post-scheme-in-england


UK – At-home abortion care to continue after being introduced in lockdown

Several MPs spoke passionately about their experiences of family members having to go to clinics for early abortions.

Alix Culbertson, Political reporter
Wednesday 30 March 2022

MPs have voted to allow women in England to continue to access abortion care at home after it was introduced during the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, women were required to attend a clinic in-person to access abortion pills, but during the first lockdown in March 2020 women have been able to receive the pills by post following a phone or video consultation.

Continued: https://news.sky.com/story/mps-vote-to-continue-at-home-abortion-care-introduced-in-lockdown-12578383


MPs vote on whether to end abortion ‘pills by post’ in England

Scotland and Wales set to make the postal service permanent, while ministers in England end the trial

Denis Campbell Health policy editor
Tue 29 Mar 2022

Women in England will only be able to access abortion tablets online illegally because ministers are ending the “pills by post” trial, MPs have been told before a crucial Commons vote on the scheme.

Medical groups, pro-choice campaigners and women’s organisations say the government’s decision to end the two-year experiment will lead to those seeking a termination breaking the law and risking criminal charges.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/29/mps-vote-on-whether-to-end-abortion-pills-by-post-in-england


England abortion ‘pills by post’ scheme to be scrapped in September

Change in law during Covid pandemic has allowed women to take pills without visiting clinic or hospital

Denis Campbell Health policy editor
Thu 24 Feb 2022

Women in England will be able to access abortion pills more easily for the next six months, but the temporary “pills by post” scheme brought in because of Covid will then be scrapped in September.

Maggie Throup, the public health minister, confirmed on Thursday that women seeking to terminate a pregnancy by taking the two pills involved at home would lose that right at the end of August.

Continued:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/24/england-abortion-pill-by-post-scheme-scrapped-september-change-law-covid-pandemic


UK women are being ‘used as guinea pigs’ by ‘abortion reversal’ doctors

openDemocracy investigation reveals spread of controversial treatment that claims to ‘reverse’ abortions, supported by US Christian right

Nandini Archer
25 March 2021

“We do help hundreds of women every day in the UK,” said a tired-sounding American woman who spoke to an openDemocracy undercover reporter in the middle of her night. “We’re like the international abortion pill reversal line.”

So-called ‘abortion pill reversal’ (APR) treatment was invented by a controversial anti-abortion doctor in California. It prescribes high doses of progesterone, a hormone, after the first of two pills used for medical abortions.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/uk-women-are-being-used-as-guinea-pigs-by-abortion-reversal-doctors/


UK – Women from poorer backgrounds three times more likely to have abortions

Exclusive: gap between worst-off and wealthiest women has widened during pandemic, British Pregnancy Advisory Service figures show

Tobi Thomas and Jessica Elgot
Tue 23 Mar 2021

Women from the most deprived backgrounds are almost three times more likely to have abortions than women from the wealthiest backgrounds, and the gap has worsened during the pandemic, data suggests.

A Guardian analysis of data provided by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) found that in 2020, women from the most deprived backgrounds accounted for 16.5% of all abortions, and women from the wealthiest backgrounds accounted for 5.9%.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/23/women-from-poorer-backgrounds-three-times-more-likely-to-have-abortions


UK – Will At-Home Abortions Be Available As Coronavirus Restrictions Ease?

Alice Broster
Feb 27, 2021

At the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, the UK government announced that early abortion care would be available at home, via telemedicine. The government is now debating whether to continue this as lockdown eases or go back to only administering abortions within a medical setting. Medical professionals from MSI Reproductive Choices UK and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service have argued for increased access to abortions as a matter of essential healthcare throughout the pandemic and research has found that at-home early medical abortions are no riskier and have cut down waiting periods which is essential when people are wanting to have a termination.

Continued: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicebroster/2021/02/27/will-at-home-abortions-be-available-as-coronavirus-restrictions-ease/?sh=686aaf192add


UK – The majority of people want to make at-home abortions legal

It's an issue currently being debated by the government

by JENNIFER SAVIN
FEB 19, 2021

A ground-breaking new study of over 50,000 medical abortions has found that the at-home option (introduced temporarily during the pandemic, for those up to 10 weeks pregnant) was not only safe and effective, but allowed more people to easily access the healthcare they required. The results of the study have been released during an especially poignant time, as the government is currently examining whether or not to make at-home abortions a permanent option in England.

The study looked at abortions carried out in England, Scotland and Wales, both before and after the pandemic, and researchers, from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), MSI Reproductive Choices UK and the University of Texas at Austin, say their aim was to compare the data and see how the telemedicine service compares to the services previously available.

Continued: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a35558873/at-home-abortions-legal-study/


Edinburgh City Council U-turn on blocked abortion advice website searches

Edinburgh City Council has announced it will no longer block access to vital abortion information websites, after facing heavy criticism from a leading charity.

By Joseph Anderson
Wednesday, 17th February 2021

The council was previously accused of ‘taking
an anti-abortion stance’ by pro-choice campaigners after a freedom of
information act, submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, revealed
the council does not allow employees or school pupils to access lifesaving
healthcare information on abortion.

Previously, the only accessible website containing abortion information was the
NHS website, however, charities such as the British Pregnancy Advisory
Service(BPAS) – which campaigns for women’s reproductive choices, provides a
helpline and appointments, and signposts women to treatment – were blocked .

Continued: https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/health/edinburgh-city-council-u-turn-blocked-abortion-advice-website-searches-3137588