'Home abortions' proposed

Friday, 27 June 2003 12:00 AM

Anti-abortion campaigners are outraged at plans to allow women to have early medical terminations at home.

Doctors are supporting plans which they say will benefit women who want to terminate their pregnancy as early as possible, eliminating the need for a surgical abortion.

The procedure involves the woman taking pills on two separate occasions. Currently women have to attend hospital or a licensed clinic twice in order to take the tablets under supervision. However the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) is calling for the regulations to be changed so women can take the second drug at home.

The second pill causes bleeding that is usually heavier than a normal period, and a small number of women experience severe, heavy bleeding, but the BPAS says that women experiencing a natural early miscarriage aren't confined to hospital and there's no need for women experiencing a drug-induced early miscarriage to be in hospital.

Kate Guthrie, a consultant gynaecologist at Hull Royal Infirmary and a spokeswoman for the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, told the BBC that this would be a safe and often desirable option for women.

'I think this is an excellent idea. From my perspective as a doctor I would be happy. One of the reasons women don't access abortion services is the need to attend a clinic twice,' she explained.

However Nuala Scarisbrick of the anti-abortion charity Life, said that she is completely opposed to the idea.

'I'm concerned about the risks to their health if the woman bleeds heavily. She should be in range of a doctor,' she commented.

The Department of Health said that there is provision for medical abortion to be carried out in an approved class of place but it has not yet determined what a 'class of place' should be.

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