tele medicine has become a useful way to provide necessary health care whilst avoiding covid 19 transmission, even for really intimate problems. In march 20 20, as the u k. Shut down, emergency legal orders were issued to allow early stage, at home medical abortions in great britain. Last week, m ps and parliament voted to permanently allow them.
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
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