Health Update: Pill plea

MAKING the 'morning after pill' available from pharmacies without prescription would help to reduce the number of abortions, according to the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

The journal says that almost 200,000 abortions are carried out each year in Britain. About half the women were not using any form of contraception, and an estimated 80 per cent of the unwanted pregnancies could have been prevented by emergency contraception. For many women, easier access to the 'morning after pill' would be a welcome alternative to the delays, trauma and expense associated with abortion.