Following a poll of 8000 of you, we wrote to the Government urging it to retain telemedical abortion

[JuliaMumsnet]

Hi everyone

We thought you’d like to know that following a poll of 8000 of you (thanks everyone who voted!), Justine has written to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health Maggie Throup urging the Government to retain telemedical abortions.

Here’s an extract: “The arrangements that were put in place during the pandemic have made us a world leader in the provision of telemedical abortion care for those seeking an early medical abortion. This means that women who struggle to attend an in-clinic appointment - because of a lack of childcare, transport issues, domestic abuse or any other reason - are able to obtain safe, timely and effective care.

I welcome reports that ministers are preparing to extend this provision, and would ask you to make the change permanent. As you may know, around 90% of Mumsnet’s 8 million users are women. When we polled them on this issue between the 28th and 31st of January, more than 8000 of them responded, with 77% of them in favour of retaining this provision permanently.

Telemedical abortion represents an important step forward for women’s health and reproductive choice. It must not be reversed.”

Full letter here. If you'd like to read more, Clare Murphy from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) wrote a guest post for us last year about telemedical abortion on which many of you shared your stories of abortion before this provision and since.

What you can do

1. If you’d like to take action on this, take two mins to write to Maggie Throup too here.
2. Retweet and/or share Justine's letter - it's on twitter here, on instagram here and on Facebook here.

Thanks!

MNHQ

I tell you what does need to be considered here.

Abortion at home is not just like having a period. Women who take this option do need to know that it can be a very painful and prolonged procedure.

I am all for making things easier but sometimes I wonder if some of the people promoting the change have actually had any experience of it.

‘Promoting’?

Women were sent home after taking the tablet under the face-to-face system pre Covid. They weren’t given pain relief. The main difference was that the medicine kicked in on their way home, leaving them in pain and bleeding. I would totally support warning women of the severity of the pain they might experience and providing them with better painkillers.

My cousin is in the police and they did a raid at a brothel and found a "stash" of morning after pills

These awful people exploiting people will be all over that!!

Plus as @TerribleIdea mentioned coercive control situations people could have this forced on them and if they go to the GP they can speak to someone in a secure environment and in a safe space.

Our local hospital has a system in the ladies toilet where you can pull a spot sticker and stick it on your appointment letter or maternity hand held notes if your in a bad relationship or want to be taken to a room on your own but people need to be able to access help not have tablets rammed down them with no thought of the physiological damage and mental pain and suffering they may experience

"Women were sent home after taking the tablet under the face-to-face system pre Covid. They weren’t given pain relief. The main difference was that the medicine kicked in on their way home, leaving them in pain and bleeding. I would totally support warning women of the severity of the pain they might experience and providing them with better painkillers."

I am sorry for those women. This was not my personal experience. I was given Pain relief and I am shocked that things seem to have changed since then. Unfortunately the pain relief I was given was not enough to stop the terrible pain I experienced.

That was my point really. That people do need to be made aware that it is not a painless solution. I have had both a surgical abortion and one using abortion pills (for a miscarriage) and

And if I was in that position again I would want the surgical procedure.

I also am not certain that the current system with the abortion pill in the U.K. works that way

The mifepristone prescribed in hospital/clinic is not what causes the termination.

It is the pill you take 1-2 days later that breaks down the lining of the womb so the mifepristone shouldn't be causing women to bleed on the bus home.

@SmellyOldOwls

Totally agree the telephony service needs to still exist. I have no idea why abortion pills can't be bought from a chemist tbh. Maybe every pharmacy could have someone trained in ultrasound and a scanner in their private room. Abortion should be accessible, and normalised.

Well no, because it would be very easy for someone to slip a pill into a drink or say it's just paracetamol to end someone's pregnancy. There are plenty of horrible men who'd jump at the chance of avoiding 18 years of CMS.

I was given pain relief in the pack I received from the hospital.

I was given pain relief. It didn't help much but versus the pain, both physical and mental I would have faced with the continuation of the pregnancy, it was less painful in comparison.
Also with the combination of pills that you have to use, there is no way someone would be able to pass it off as paracetamol.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02/23/home-abortions-come-end-women/

So looks like they are ending at-home abortion pills.

The end-date has been extended till 29th August 2022 so we still have time to lobby and protest.

www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/24/england-abortion-pill-by-post-scheme-scrapped-september-change-law-covid-pandemic

Just to flag, I've shared a petition on this topic in the e-Petitions board if people would like to support the call for making telemedicine abortion permanent in England.

Where is the petitions board please?

Hi, under petitionscand activism in Talk: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/petitions_noticeboard

[quote SpinningTheSeedsOfLove]The end-date has been extended till 29th August 2022 so we still have time to lobby and protest.

www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/24/england-abortion-pill-by-post-scheme-scrapped-september-change-law-covid-pandemic[/quote]
No way. These pills offer a completely free pass for abusers and in all other circumstances women seeking an abortion have to be checked by doctors to have their dates verified and rule out ectopic pregnancies. My friend recently did a placement at a clinic where they issue the medical abortions and she was stunned by the lack of checks carried out. This ban can't come soon enough. If you care about women, you would welcome this coming to an end as soon as possible. I'm shocked it's going to extend until August with the amount of admissions there have been to A&E due to these pills.

Freedom of information data has shown that as many as 1-in-17 women taking these abortion pills require hospital treatment. Around half of these require surgical treatment to complete the abortion. This means over 14,000 women have been treated in hospital following the approval of pills-by-post abortion.
Another study has shown that emergency ambulance responses are three times higher for pills-by-post abortion.
A mystery client investigation demonstrated that abortion pills can be obtained using false identities, false gestational age and no NHS registration. This shows that making the pills available by telemedicine is wide open for abuse.
Video footage has shown the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) illegally posting abortion pills to a women who said she wanted to terminate her pregnancy because she didn’t “want to look pregnant on holiday.”
A study has shown that less than 1-in-5 complications following telemedicine abortions are reported. Claims that telemedicine abortions are safe vastly understate the numbers of complications.
Recent polling found that as many as 1-in-20 women aged 18-24 said they had been “given something (tablets / substance) to cause an abortion” without their knowledge or consent. This abuse is clearly much easier with telemedicine abortion.
In answer to a parliamentary question, the government admitted that it has no idea how many pills have not been taken by the woman who requested them or what happened to those pills.
Polling has also shown that 86% of GPs are concerned about the risk of women being coerced into an abortion without an in-person consultation.
Polling showed that 84% of adults in England say they are concerned about women being at risk of being coerced into an abortion without an in-person consultation.
A clear majority (70%) of respondents to the government consultation said that the temporary measure of pills-by-post abortion should end immediately.

Hello all! Latest update is that Baroness Liz Sugg in the House of Lords tabled an amendment to the Heath and Social Care bill on the 16th March to keep telemedical abortion - and it passed! So now it will be going through the Commons to be voted on by MPs sometime next week. We want to make sure that they understand the strength of feeling amongst women in favour of keeping this provision. Find out how you can take action here.

@JuliaMumsnet

Hello all! Latest update is that Baroness Liz Sugg in the House of Lords tabled an amendment to the Heath and Social Care bill on the 16th March to keep telemedical abortion - and it passed! So now it will be going through the Commons to be voted on by MPs sometime next week. We want to make sure that they understand the strength of feeling amongst women in favour of keeping this provision. Find out how you can take action here.

We want to make sure that they understand the strength of feeling amongst women in favour of keeping this provision.

This is an untruth. Maybe it's true of mumsnet, but the majority of women in England are concerned about the implications of at-home abortions, not to mention doctors.

Thanks for fighting the good fight to put women at a higher risk of exploitation and medical complications, mumsnet. Thanks for pandering to the campaigners who have no idea about real world domestic abuse, all because it makes you look progressive. Great job