She says the experience was infinitely more painful than expected and she wishes she had gone to a clinic. I was crying,’ says Emily, who felt the urge to push three and a half hours after taking the second pill, and felt a ‘massive clump’ come out. ‘I was sweating but my body was freezing. After an hour, she says period-type cramps had turned into pain so severe she was doubled up on the toilet. After the second set of medication 24 hours later, she started bleeding within 15 minutes.
‘She was supportive,’ says Emily, who took the first pill three days after that, at almost seven weeks pregnant. Emily’s pills arrived via registered post two days later, by which time she had told her mum. O’Brien insists there’s no evidence the service is being misused. I could have been getting pills for someone else and they’d have no access to their medical information.’ In hindsight Emily says: ‘It’s a bit concerning I didn’t have to prove I was pregnant. ‘If we had concerns about somebody’s safety, we would bring them in for an appointment.’Įmily, who had been using condoms and tracking her menstrual cycle as contraception, discovered she was pregnant when her period was eight days late. ‘Everybody is offered counselling,’ says Katherine O’Brien. Four days later, a nurse called for a 40-minute consultation, during which women are asked their medical history, date of birth and feelings about the pregnancy. ‘We agreed it wasn’t the right time, and that having a baby wasn’t a reason for us to make it work as a couple.’ The following day, she went online to book an appointment with BPAS.
He adds that this pain has historically been ‘poorly communicated’.Įmily, who had been using condoms and tracking her menstrual cycle as contraception, discovered she was pregnant when her period was eight days late. ‘Medical abortion, there’s no getting around it, it’s really quite painful,’ says Jonathan Lord, medical director at MSI Reproductive Choices. I was cryingīut are women paying a price in terms of the pain involved? And would some still be better off having the surgical procedure? I was sweating but freezing at the same time. Not only do remote consultations help clear waiting lists, but medical abortions are cheaper than surgical - £480 compared with £680, when quoted privately by BPAS. There are presumably benefits for the beleaguered NHS, too, which pays providers per abortion. Medical abortions are also more likely to be successful when pills are taken at home because women are more likely to be able to take them at the recommended intervals. ‘We know it has a real impact for vulnerable women - those experiencing domestic abuse who can’t get to a clinic without their partner discovering they’re pregnant, or women living with their parents who might not want them to know they are pregnant,’ says Katherine O’Brien of BPAS. So why has this become the mainstream option? And what are the ramifications for women? Being able to keep the procedure private is a huge draw, as is the fact that women can end a pregnancy more quickly as they’re no longer required to travel to a clinic. While some choose to start a medical abortion in a clinic, the majority now happen at home. Now these account for just 13 per cent of the total figure. In 2018, when misoprostol was approved for administering at home, surgical abortions declined to 33 per cent. In June, government data revealed 52 per cent of all abortions in 2021 involved women taking tablets, for termination of pregnancies, unsupervised
MPs then voted in March this year to make the changes permanent and, on Tuesday, it was announced that they will be written into law next week, consolidating the most seismic shift in abortion protocol in this country in recent times.Īccording to MSI Reproductive Choices, which used to be called Marie Stopes International and is one of the UK’s two biggest abortion providers along with BPAS, as recently as 2017 some 52 per cent of its patients opted to have a surgical termination, which is performed under anaesthetic with the pregnancy removed by a doctor. It followed temporary measures introduced in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, to allow women to take both sets of pills for early medical abortion at home, without needing to attend a hospital or clinic first. In June, government data revealed 52 per cent of all abortions in 2021 involved women taking these tablets unsupervised. It will stick with me for ever,’ she says. ‘People need to be aware this is not an easy way out. When we speak, eight weeks later, she is still bleeding.
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