At-home early medical abortions made permanent from 30 August

MPs previously voted to make at-home early medical abortions permanent in England

Fresh laws will permit women to access medical abortion medication through a system called ‘telemedicine’, enabling pills to be consumed at home for women up to nine weeks and six days pregnant (Getty/iStock)

At-home early medical abortions will formally be made permanent in England and Wales from 30 August.

Fresh laws will permit women to access medical abortion medication to be consumed at home for those up to nine weeks and six days pregnant.

It comes after MPs voted at the end of March to make at-home early medical abortions permanent in England after a lengthy campaign by pregnancy termination services to keep the measures introduced during the Covid pandemic in place. Some 215 politicians voted for the measure, while 188 voted against it.

After the pandemic hit the UK in March 2020, ministers permitted abortion pills to be sent via post to be taken at home after a phone consultation, in a new system referred to as “telemedicine”.

Having a medical abortion involves taking two tablets. Prior to the pandemic, getting the first tablet, mifepristone, required a visit to an abortion clinic.

Maggie Throup, who is the minister for public health, said: “The wellbeing and safety of women requiring access to abortion services is paramount.

“With these measures, women will have more choice in how and where they access abortion services while ensuring robust data is collected to ensure their continued safety.”

The UK’s largest study into abortions previously found that at-home early medical abortions pose no greater risk and allow women to have the procedure much earlier on in their pregnancy. Telemedicine for abortion has been permitted in France, the US and New Zealand.

It comes after The Independent last week reported on new figures which show increasing numbers of Britons are being investigated by police over suspected illegal abortions.

Abortions are still deemed a criminal act in England, Scotland and Wales under the 1967 Abortion Act and any woman who ends a pregnancy without getting legal permission from two doctors, both of whom must agree that continuing with it would be risky for the woman’s physical or mental health, can face up to life imprisonment.

Medical professionals who deliver an abortion out of the terms of the act can face criminal punishment. But abortion providers, charities, medical bodies, and MPs have spent years demanding abortion be decriminalised in the UK.