On Thursday 30th September, the Scottish Government launched a public consultation on whether the temporary measures allowing ‘DIY’ home abortions should be made permanent. Many medics and charities have criticised this move, including Right To Life UK, CARE Scotland and Christian Medical Fellowship, claiming it lacks the necessary safety checks and is putting women at significant risk.
This public consultation comes weeks after the Scottish Government revealed its intention to expand access to abortion across the nation, despite Scotland already having the second-highest abortion figures on record.
Women seeking a medical abortion take two types of tablet: mifepristone and misoprostol. Prior to the change in law, both sets of pills would only be prescribed following a face-to-face consultation. The first pill, mifepristone, would then be taken in the safety of a hospital or clinic, while the second set of pills could be taken at home.
The change in law, which was done without any parliamentary debate or scrutiny, means the pills can be obtained over the phone and then taken at home, where a woman will be left to abort her unborn child without any direct medical supervision.
Dr. Antony Latham, the chairman of the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics and a General Practitioner says, “I know as a GP how important it is to see someone face-to-face when making such decisions. Phone calls, or video calls, are completely inadequate.
“We need to sit down and discuss the options in a relational and non-judgmental way that gives proper dignity to the person making the decision and allows space for reflection. There are so many dangers to ‘DIY’ abortions. One is that the woman may be under pressure to have an abortion in an abusive relationship or from relatives who will not support her. Such situations are only discussed and discerned properly with face to face meetings.
“Another danger is that she may not fully understand the trauma of having an abortion, potentially all alone, at home. This is a very unpleasant and painful thing to have to go through and needs to be fully discussed.
“Significant bleeding and sepsis are not uncommon. There have been at least two recorded deaths of women having such ‘DIY’ abortions in the UK so far. It is highly questionable whether one can have informed consent for such a procedure over the phone. Without any examination she may be getting the abortion pills for a pregnancy that is over 10 weeks gestation, which is the legal limit for such ‘DIY’ abortions.
“Another significant danger is that there is real scope for people abusing the system and obtaining the pills for someone else other than the person phoning up. “
The temporary provisions have already placed the physical health of thousands of women and girls at risk.
A leaked email sent by a Regional Chief Midwife at NHS England revealed that two women have died from taking medical abortion pills, one of whom died ‘very quickly’ with sepsis and a second found dead at home the morning after starting the abortion process.
The email also revealed a woman at 32 weeks of pregnancy was able to receive ‘at-home’ abortion pills. There are currently three police investigations linked to late ‘at-home’ abortions including a ‘murder investigation as there is concern that the baby was live born’.
Speaking about the Scottish Government’s consultation, Catherine Robinson from charity Right To Life UK said, “The consultation is extremely one-sided. The Scottish Government appears to have repeatedly ‘cherry-picked’ anything that supports making ‘DIY’ home abortions permanent and ignored evidence highlighting serious issues.
“There is no mention in the consultation background evidence that two women have died using these ‘DIY’ home abortion services and no mention of the police investigating the death of an unborn baby after its mother took ‘DIY’ home abortion pills while 28 weeks pregnant.
“This is clearly a rigged consultation which is seeking to make dangerous ‘DIY’ home abortion permanent in Scotland. We are calling on constituents in Scotland to make it clear to their MSPs that these dangerous ‘DIY’ home abortion schemes should be suspended immediately and not introduced on a permanent basis.”
More information can be found on https://righttolife.org.uk/diyabortionscotland/
The consultation is available online and will run until 5 January 2021.
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