This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Online abortion pills sales rise
The Victoria Derbyshire programme has reported that official data has shown the number of abortion pills being bought online in Britain has increased.
The figures, from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), indicated that there were 375 doses seized in 2016, up from 270 in 2015 and 180 in 2014.
The seizures were made during the MHRA's annual week-long raids, known as Operation Pangea, which involved searching postal hubs where foreign post is stored before being distributed to local post offices.
Currently, it is illegal to consume an abortion pill without first gaining medical approval. The punishment for self-induced abortion, under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, means that taking the pill illegally could be punished with a life sentence.
Clara Watson, education officer for the charity Life, commented: ”Some women aren't suitable for the abortion pill and may suffer from blood clots, there may be other underlying health issues, they may not know how far along they are. It's too risky.”
Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, commented: ”At Bpas, we do all that we can to make abortion services as accessible as possible. However, it is clear that for some women the barriers to clinic-based treatment feel insurmountable.
“They are not criminals deserving of life imprisonment. Evidence suggests that as awareness of online abortion pills is increasing, so too are the numbers of women using these methods."
Furred added: “Fifty years after the 1967 Act was passed, it is time to bring women's reproductive healthcare into the 21st Century and remove abortion from the criminal law. By doing so we would remove the clinically unnecessary legal barriers to treatment."
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