UK – Government Urged to Continue Allowing Women to Take Abortion Pills at Home

‘There is no reason for governments to delay making telemedicine for early medical abortion a permanent feature of healthcare,’ doctors say

Kate Ng
Jan 31, 2022

Women will be forced into illegal abortions if the government does not extend rules that allow abortion pills to be taken at home, doctors have warned.

Healthcare providers from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (FSRH) are concerned about plans to scrap the rules that were put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/abortion-pills-illegal-women-pregnancy-b2003983.html?r=60619

Down’s syndrome: Abortion case heads to High Court

May 5, 2021

Campaigners are set to have a review of abortion law relating to Down's syndrome heard at the High Court.

Heidi Carter, of Coventry, and Máire
Lea-Wilson from Brentford, west London, are challenging the government over a
clause in the current law which allows abortion for up to birth for a foetus
with Down's syndrome.

Mrs Carter, 25, who has the condition, said the current law is "not
fair".

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-56982646

05.05.2021

UK – Like Everything Else, Abortion Needs To Change After This

Like Everything Else, Abortion Needs To Change After This

Vicky Spratt
16 April 2020

Was the Health Secretary Matt Hancock gaslighting women in Britain when he allowed draft legislation permitting at-home abortions during the pandemic we’re currently living through to be published and unpublished? We will never know.

In the end, because of a cacophonous campaign from abortion experts at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and Marie Stopes, the government did a u-turn and confirmed that, for as long as this crisis rages on, women will be able to take abortion medication in the safety and comfort of their own home after a telephone consultation with a doctor (also known as telemedicine).

Continued: https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/2020/04/9700087/abortion-law-change-during-coronavirus

UK – State control over women’s bodies is an unforeseen outcome of the coronavirus crisis

State control over women's bodies is an unforeseen outcome of the coronavirus crisis
A U-turn on women’s ability to access home abortions and the cancellation of IVF means they have less say over their fertility

Emma Barnett
Sun 29 Mar 2020

It’s been quite a week to have a womb in the UK.

First, pregnant women were suddenly categorised as vulnerable, and advised to stay home by the government. But then some of them were told to come back into work by their employers – including the riskiest of all, the NHS.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/29/state-control-womens-bodies-covid-19-crisis

Abortion provision thrown into doubt by coronavirus pandemic

Abortion provision thrown into doubt by coronavirus pandemic

By Laura Smith-Spark, Valentina Di Donato and Stephanie Halasz, CNN
March 27, 2020

London (CNN)As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, women's access to abortion is one of many healthcare provisions thrown into jeopardy.

The UK government caused confusion this week when it first announced that women would temporarily be allowed to access early medical abortion at home, rather than attending a clinic -- and then, hours later, reversed its decision.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/27/health/coronavirus-abortion-access-intl/index.html

Coronavirus is making abortion access more difficult in the UK

Coronavirus is making abortion access more difficult in the UK

By Rachel Thompson
March 25, 2020

The UK is now under lockdown. Britons are only permitted to leave their homes for food, health reasons, or work (if it's not possible to be done from home) in a bid to slow the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19).

Abortion services in the UK are under considerable strain as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Women with severe health issues who've been advised to self-isolate say they're being forced to choose between risking their health by leaving their house and continuing with an unwanted pregnancy that could imperil their health, according to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS).

Continued: https://mashable.com/article/coronavirus-abortion-access-uk/

UK – Coronavirus: Abortion law changes ruled out by health secretary Matt Hancock

Coronavirus: Abortion law changes ruled out by health secretary Matt Hancock

George Martin, Yahoo News UK
Mar. 24, 2020

Abortion rules will not be changed as part of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the health secretary has announced, after the government published and then deleted changes to the law.

Matt Hancock was pressed by MPs after the Department of Health said it would allow women and girls to take abortion pills at home, without the need to attend a clinic or hospital, and for doctors to prescribe from their own homes.

Continued: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-abortion-rules-lockdown-covid-143825696.html

24.03.2020

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UK- Coronavirus: Department of Health says temporary changes to abortion law were ‘published in error’

Coronavirus: Department of Health says temporary changes to abortion law were ‘published in error’
'This was published in error,' a spokesperson told The Independent

Sophie Gallagher
Mar 23, 2020

The Department of Health says reported changes to the abortion law, that would allow women to take both pills at home during the coronavirus outbreak, are not going ahead.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told The Independent: “This was published in error. There will be no changes to abortion regulations.”

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/coronavirus-abortion-law-change-department-of-health-a9420116.html

23.03.2020

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What we learned from the forced-abortion case

What we learned from the forced-abortion case
So pro-lifers suddenly care about the state meddling in women’s affairs?

Ella Whelan, Columnist
4th July 2019

A woman’s decision to have an abortion is a deeply personal and private matter. But one mentally disabled woman living in England had her pregnancy discussed in public at length recently, following a court ruling mandating doctors to abort the pregnancy without her consent, which was later overturned.

The pregnant woman had a ‘moderately severe’ learning disorder and the mental age of a child aged between six and nine. Doctors questioned her ability to handle the psychological toll of childbirth and raising the child. The woman’s mother, her social worker and her lawyers all argued that she was capable of giving birth, and argued that the child’s grandmother would do most of the caregiving. Despite their pleas, the Court of Protection ruled that termination was in the woman’s ‘best interests’. After the case was taken to the Court of Appeal, the ruling was thankfully overturned.

Continued: https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/07/04/what-we-learned-from-the-forced-abortion-case/

04.07.2019

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UK – Diana Johnson interview: “We need a modern, fit-for-purpose abortion law”

Diana Johnson interview: “We need a modern, fit-for-purpose abortion law”

Sienna Rodgers
23rd October, 2018

Labour MP Diana Johnson will today introduce a ten-minute rule bill in the House of Commons that would see abortion decriminalised. Currently, the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861 makes abortion illegal in the UK except when there is a risk to the life or health of the mother, and this legislation was only partly superseded by the Abortion Act 1967. Ahead of tabling the backbench bill, Johnson spoke to LabourList.

How did abortion become a key focus in your work as an MP?

Continued: https://labourlist.org/2018/10/diana-johnson-interview-we-need-a-modern-fit-for-purpose-abortion-law/