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Women Are Buying Illegal Abortion Pills Online To Take At Home

Women Are Buying Illegal Abortion Pills Online To Take At Home

Women are buying illegal abortion pills online so they can take them at home instead of going to a hospital or clinic.

Niamh Spence

Niamh Spence

You can pretty much buy anything online nowadays and it seems even abortion pills are accessible via a few clicks.

According to BBC's Victoria Derbyshire, women in England are illegally buying abortion pills from the Internet.

In England, women must take two tablets at a hospital or clinic supervised by a nurse and the tablets are taken 24 to 48 hours apart and means they must attend the same clinic twice for each tablet.

However hospitals and clinics are now allowing women to take both types of pill on the same day - even though this increases the risk of complications.

JESHOOTS.com from Pexels

The abortion process can start within 30 minutes so this means women may still be on the way home when they start to get symptoms. Which could be one of the reasons women want to take the pill at home.

According to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, over the past three years, drug enforcement officers had seized almost 10,000 sets of abortion pills heading to Britain.

Under the 1967 Abortion Act, terminations can be carried out only on licensed premises.

Pexels

However, now the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has called on England's Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, to change the legislation so that women have the option to take the second pill at home.

RCOG's president, Prof Leslie Regan told the Victoria Derbyshire programme: "We know that when women are allowed to take the second tablet at home that it is safe, it's highly effective and they much, much prefer it."

BBC

The World Health Organisation recommends home use of the abortion pill and many experts believe that the current legislation is putting women at risk due to the dangers associated with buying pills online.

Watch the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel in the UK.

Featured Image Credit: PA Images/Pexels

Topics: Life News, Real, Health