I had to risk miscarrying in a taxi after taking an abortion pill. Women should be allowed to take it at home

These journeys back from the hospital are a completely unnecessary ordeal, and the government can change this overnight

One year ago, I found out I was pregnant. I was a 22-year-old student and I called my GP. They told me not to worry as I wouldn’t need to see a midwife for about eight weeks. “No”, I said, “you don’t understand – I’m pregnant and I don’t want to be.”

The phone was silent for a few seconds: “Oh. We don’t deal with that sort of thing.”

“That sort of thing” – otherwise known as an abortion – is something that one in three women will experience. I had my abortion at seven weeks, so could have an early medical termination. This requires taking two pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, on licensed premises, 24 hours apart. It is the second pill that causes the miscarriage. Each woman’s experience of this will differ, but for me it involved feeling extremely faint, cramping, vomiting, and significant bleeding. It also started in a taxi.

This is because the effects of the second pill can begin within 30 minutes. After taking it in a hospital or clinic, under supervision, you have 30 minutes to get to wherever you want your abortion to happen. I lived a 15-minute drive away from the hospital, but in those 15 minutes I turned a pale shade of green and could feel the process starting.

I collapsed almost as soon as I got inside my home, and then started miscarrying and vomiting on the bathroom floor. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if we had been stuck in traffic for just two minutes longer. And I was lucky that I could afford a taxi – many women cannot and have to travel home on public transport.

It doesn't have to be this way. These journeys are a completely unnecessary ordeal: women who suffer incomplete miscarriages also require the pill misoprostol, but they are allowed to take it at home.

Women are being given different medical treatment based on whether or not they chose to end their pregnancy. To me, it felt like a form of punishment: decide to have an abortion and face extra supervision, as well as the risk of miscarrying in public.

There is no medical reason for this difference in treatment. It is simply the result of outdated rules from the 1960s, when all abortions were surgical procedures. Last year, the Scottish government recognised this anachronism and changed its rules, but thousands of women across England and Wales are still going through this painful physical experience on buses, in taxis, and on trains.

The government has the power change this overnight. As part of the #HomeUse campaign with the Women’s Equality Party, I have written an open letter to the ministers who can change the rules so women can take the second pill at home.

In response, the Department of Health has said that it will continue to “monitor the evidence” on home use. This just isn’t good enough. If it was monitoring the evidence, the government would know that home use is recommended as an option by medical professionals and the World Health Organisation.

If it was monitoring the evidence, it would know that many other countries have already successfully introduced home use.

If it was monitoring the evidence, it would know that a 2011 study concluded there was no evidence that home use was any less effective or safe than clinic-based medical abortion.

The evidence is already there, and it shows this is a no-brainer. There is no medical, political, or ethical reason not to make this simple change.

It would not even need a vote in Parliament or new legislation, just the approval of Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, so the government’s fragile political position is not a factor.

It would save the NHS money and relieve some of the strain on overstretched services, it would help women who live in poverty or are experiencing domestic violence to access abortions safely, and it would save thousands of women like me from pain and distress.

So, Jeremy, I’m not going to go away. Stop ignoring women like me who have gone through this. Start listening to our experiences – and to the evidence and the experts – and use your power to prevent women going through this needless ordeal.

You can sign Claudia’s letter at: http://www.womensequality.org.uk/homeuse