Wednesday, 16th February 2011

High Court refuses to allow abortion pill to be taken at home

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service's High Court fight for home administration of the abortion pill has failed.  LIFE welcomes this judgment.  Mr Justice Supperstone clearly agrees that the legal arguments offered by the Department of Health against the BPAS proposals were strong and convincing, and in accordance with the common sense view that the doctor's role in any particular treatment does not end with his writing a prescription.  

 Whatever one thinks of the ethics and whatever the method involved, abortion is clearly a serious medical procedure.  It should not be trivialised, and women should not be left to deal with the consequences at home, by themselves.  Complications of medical abortion may be rare, but they can be severe, and it is surely irresponsible and uncaring towards women to put them in a situation where they cannot quickly access support and further treatment where necessary.  Our experience at LIFE is that many women are already poorly treated by abortion providers, their real needs and concerns neglected; this change would have worsened that problem.  Moreover, there has been little research into the long-term consequences for women's emotional and mental wellbeing of home-administered abortion.

The 1967 Abortion Act was intended to provide for a small number of abortions in the most difficult of situations.  Allowing the administration of the abortion pill at home, unsupervised, would be yet another blow to the spirit of this law.