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| It’s perfectly safe – so why can’t women take abortion pills at home? | It’s perfectly safe – so why can’t women take abortion pills at home? |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| When I found out I was pregnant last year, I immediately knew that I wanted an abortion. I did not want to be pregnant. I had my final university exams in a month, I was 23, and being a single mum just wasn’t a part of the plan. That part wasn’t difficult: I was pregnant and I didn’t want to be. | When I found out I was pregnant last year, I immediately knew that I wanted an abortion. I did not want to be pregnant. I had my final university exams in a month, I was 23, and being a single mum just wasn’t a part of the plan. That part wasn’t difficult: I was pregnant and I didn’t want to be. |
| What was difficult, however, was my abortion starting in the back of a taxi. This happened because the law in Scotland at the time required me to take the second abortion pill in a hospital or clinic. When you are having an early medical abortion like I was, you take two pills roughly two days apart, and it is the second pill that triggers a miscarriage. | What was difficult, however, was my abortion starting in the back of a taxi. This happened because the law in Scotland at the time required me to take the second abortion pill in a hospital or clinic. When you are having an early medical abortion like I was, you take two pills roughly two days apart, and it is the second pill that triggers a miscarriage. |
| You had to take the pill in the hospital or clinic in front of a nurse, place it under your tongue, wait for it to dissolve and travel home. The abortion can start within 30 minutes of taking the pill. Do you live within 30 minutes of a hospital? Or 20 minutes? Or 15? | You had to take the pill in the hospital or clinic in front of a nurse, place it under your tongue, wait for it to dissolve and travel home. The abortion can start within 30 minutes of taking the pill. Do you live within 30 minutes of a hospital? Or 20 minutes? Or 15? |
| The murky truth about why women in England can’t have abortions at home | The murky truth about why women in England can’t have abortions at home |
| I lived just 15 minutes away, but the symptoms started so quickly. I was extremely nauseous, the cramping was almost unbearable and I thought I was going to pass out. All I could focus on was getting home and being near a toilet. I arrived home just in time to collapse on the bathroom floor. | I lived just 15 minutes away, but the symptoms started so quickly. I was extremely nauseous, the cramping was almost unbearable and I thought I was going to pass out. All I could focus on was getting home and being near a toilet. I arrived home just in time to collapse on the bathroom floor. |
| After my abortion, I didn’t talk about it much. Even though I knew it had been the right decision for me it still very much felt like a secret. Six months later I began to attend talks and events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act to try to understand my experience better. This is the piece of legislation that made abortion legal under certain conditions and with the permission of two doctors. But it is hopelessly outdated, and the reason that women like me are forced to travel after taking the second abortion pill. | After my abortion, I didn’t talk about it much. Even though I knew it had been the right decision for me it still very much felt like a secret. Six months later I began to attend talks and events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act to try to understand my experience better. This is the piece of legislation that made abortion legal under certain conditions and with the permission of two doctors. But it is hopelessly outdated, and the reason that women like me are forced to travel after taking the second abortion pill. |
| The 1967 Abortion Act legalised terminations in England, Wales and Scotland. It permits abortion for non-medical reasons up to 24 weeks of pregnancy and with the permission of two doctors. | |
| Abortion law was devolved to Holyrood as part of the Scotland Act 2016. The SNP has reaffirmed its commitment to current legal protections and to maintaining time limits in line with the rest of the UK. | Abortion law was devolved to Holyrood as part of the Scotland Act 2016. The SNP has reaffirmed its commitment to current legal protections and to maintaining time limits in line with the rest of the UK. |
| The 1967 act does not extend to Northern Ireland. Abortion is legal in Northern Ireland only when the pregnancy poses a direct threat to the mother’s life. An amendment by the Labour MP Stella Creasy to allow Northern Irish women access to NHS-funded abortions in England was passed by Westminster in 2017. | The 1967 act does not extend to Northern Ireland. Abortion is legal in Northern Ireland only when the pregnancy poses a direct threat to the mother’s life. An amendment by the Labour MP Stella Creasy to allow Northern Irish women access to NHS-funded abortions in England was passed by Westminster in 2017. |
| The Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, confirmed that regulations allowing Scottish health boards to provide abortion services to women from Northern Ireland would come into force at the beginning of November of that year. | The Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, confirmed that regulations allowing Scottish health boards to provide abortion services to women from Northern Ireland would come into force at the beginning of November of that year. |
| In July 2019, the UK parliament in Westminster voted to harmonise the laws on abortion and same-sex marriage across the whole of the UK if the Northern Ireland Assembly had not been restored by 21 October. | In July 2019, the UK parliament in Westminster voted to harmonise the laws on abortion and same-sex marriage across the whole of the UK if the Northern Ireland Assembly had not been restored by 21 October. |
| On 3 October 2019, the high court in Belfast ruled that Northern Ireland’s strict abortion law breaches the UK’s human rights commitments. | |
| These talks were the first time I heard other women speaking about their abortions. They weren’t ashamed or embarrassed, they were angry. I learned how unfair the situation was, that women who were miscarrying can take the same pill at home. I learned that there is no medical reason to stop women from taking the pill at home for the purpose of an abortion – the provision is a throwback to a time when surgical abortions were the only option and women had to be seen in a clinical setting. And I learned about other women who were having their abortions on buses, on trains and on tubes as a result of this anachronism. | These talks were the first time I heard other women speaking about their abortions. They weren’t ashamed or embarrassed, they were angry. I learned how unfair the situation was, that women who were miscarrying can take the same pill at home. I learned that there is no medical reason to stop women from taking the pill at home for the purpose of an abortion – the provision is a throwback to a time when surgical abortions were the only option and women had to be seen in a clinical setting. And I learned about other women who were having their abortions on buses, on trains and on tubes as a result of this anachronism. |
| That same month, the rules in Scotland changed. They listened to women and to the experts, and ensured women could take this pill at home. I hoped this would quickly be taken up across the rest of the UK, but Jeremy Hunt, the then health secretary, remained silent. And I realised this is about controlling women, much like the requirement to seek permission from two doctors for an abortion, the agonising consultation women have to endure to buy emergency contraception, and the pushback from doctors some women have experienced when they have asked for sterilisation. | That same month, the rules in Scotland changed. They listened to women and to the experts, and ensured women could take this pill at home. I hoped this would quickly be taken up across the rest of the UK, but Jeremy Hunt, the then health secretary, remained silent. And I realised this is about controlling women, much like the requirement to seek permission from two doctors for an abortion, the agonising consultation women have to endure to buy emergency contraception, and the pushback from doctors some women have experienced when they have asked for sterilisation. |
| Why, 50 years after the Abortion Act, it's time to abolish the law altogether | Why, 50 years after the Abortion Act, it's time to abolish the law altogether |
| That’s why I started the campaign, with the Women’s Equality party, for home use of the abortion pill in England and Wales. I wrote to health ministers in both countries, sharing my story and asking them to trust women. When I first started talking publicly about it, I was so nervous I still spoke about it almost with a whisper. | That’s why I started the campaign, with the Women’s Equality party, for home use of the abortion pill in England and Wales. I wrote to health ministers in both countries, sharing my story and asking them to trust women. When I first started talking publicly about it, I was so nervous I still spoke about it almost with a whisper. |
| Wales has now introduced home use as well, but women in England are still being forced to travel after taking abortion pills. Matt Hancock, the new health secretary, could change this overnight. It’s been months now, the evidence is there, and still women in England are in this situation – and still not being listened to. | Wales has now introduced home use as well, but women in England are still being forced to travel after taking abortion pills. Matt Hancock, the new health secretary, could change this overnight. It’s been months now, the evidence is there, and still women in England are in this situation – and still not being listened to. |
| I’m not nervous any more, I’m not ashamed, and I’m definitely not whispering. I’m angry and I’m shouting: it’s time for women in England to have the same rights as women in Wales and Scotland. Not one more woman should have to go through this. It’s time for home use. | I’m not nervous any more, I’m not ashamed, and I’m definitely not whispering. I’m angry and I’m shouting: it’s time for women in England to have the same rights as women in Wales and Scotland. Not one more woman should have to go through this. It’s time for home use. |
| • Claudia Craig is a women’s rights campaigner and activist | • Claudia Craig is a women’s rights campaigner and activist |
| Abortion | Abortion |
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| Women | Women |
| Inequality | Inequality |
| Scotland | Scotland |
| Women's Equality Party | Women's Equality Party |
| Wales | Wales |
| Health | Health |
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