Calls to make at home early abortions permanent as major study finds they pose no greater risk

At home early abortions pose no greater risk and allow women to have the procedure much earlier on in their pregnancy, research has found.

The findings have sparked calls from leading healthcare providers for the option, which was rolled out in the wake of lockdown measures last spring, to be made permanent.

Researchers, who conducted the UK’s largest study into abortions, discovered there were no cases of significant infection which necessitated the woman to go to hospital or have major surgery.

The study, conducted by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and MSI Reproductive Choices, drew attention to the fact that despite misinformation to the contrary, not one individual died from having an at home early abortion.

Eight in ten women said at home abortions were their preferred choice and they would opt for it in the future, while waiting times from when the woman has her consultation to treatment improved from 11 days to 7 days.

Dr Jonathan Lord, medical director for MSI Reproductive Choices UK, said: “Being able to access abortion care earlier in pregnancy has also reduced the low complication rate even further.”

Dr Lord added: “Telemedicine has provided a lifeline for vulnerable women and girls who cannot attend consultations in-person. We have seen a major increase in safeguarding disclosures, including from survivors of domestic and sexual violence, as they can talk more freely about distressing and intimate details from the privacy of their own home at the beginning of the Covid emergency."

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Source: The Independent, 19 February 2021