Telemedicine

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On average, people seeking medication abortion waited fewer days to receive the new tele medicine model than they did the traditional imperson model. Forty percent of the abortions under the t medicine model were performed at six weeks justation or less, versus 25 % in the traditional inperson group. So it's as safe and as effective. And i assume that doing it remotely must make it actually easier to access the service for most people as well. Yes, absolutely.

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Great Britain brought in emergency legal orders to allow a ‘pills by post’ abortion service. For abortions within the first 10 weeks, women were able to take the two tablets needed to end a pregnancy in the privacy of their own home rather than having to take the first at a clinic or hospital. The scheme was due to be scrapped in September 2022, but last week MPs voted to keep it in England. Wales will also be making it permanent. Madeleine Finlay spoke to Dr Abigail Aiken about her study looking at the outcomes of self-managed medical abortions during the pandemic, the benefits of taking abortion pills at home, and whether ‘Plan C’ could ever become available in shops and pharmacies. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod