Allow abortion pill to be taken at home, says Labour AM

The change would mean patients could take the second drug, Misoprostol, at home

Women should be able to take abortion pills at home, Labour AM Jenny Rathbone has said.

It is currently illegal to do so, meaning the course of two pills three days apart has to be taken in a clinic.

Jenny Rathbone has called on ministers to broaden the list of places where an abortion can legally take place to include a woman's home.

The Welsh Government said it was "considering evidence" on more efficient and safer services.

Scottish ministers enacted a similar change last year.

• Abortion stories: Regrets and relief

• Scots women allowed abortion pill at home

• Online abortion pill sales 'increasing'

• Wales to fund abortions for NI women

More than three out of four abortions in Wales - 77.8% - are medical rather than surgical procedures.

A medical abortion is only available in the first nine weeks of pregnancy, and involves taking two different medicines within 72 hours of each other.

The change would mean women would get both medicines at the same consultation and would be able to take the second tablet, Misoprostol, which induces miscarriage, in their own home, rather than having to travel back to a clinic to take it.

Ms Rathbone, AM for Cardiff Central, told Wales Live: "We need to get services out of hospitals where they're not required to be in hospitals and into the community."

'Unnecessary trauma'

One woman - whose name has been changed to "Claire" for the programme to protect her identity - said she would welcome the move.

Claire has had two surgical abortions after contraception failed - first as a 19-year-old student and later at the age of 30.

She said the requirement to return to a clinic made things more difficult for women who did not live in a city with healthcare close by.

"You may not have access to transport, and it's going to make things unnecessarily traumatic, uncomfortable…

"It just doesn't need to be like that - at that point the barriers aren't going to change what you're going to do.

"By all means go through the counselling and deal with the questioning side and make the decision.

"But at that point to go 'here's an additional barrier' ... it's not going to stop people's decision. They've made their decision by then."

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) provides almost a third of abortions for Welsh women, privately and through the NHS.

They welcome the call and say it will mean that women will no longer risk bleeding and cramping, even passing their pregnancy, in their cars, on public transport, or in public places.

Dr Louise Massey, consultant in sexual and reproductive health at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, said the change would help vulnerable women such as victims of domestic abuse.

"For these women, travelling to a clinic twice in 72 hours, often in secret, is very difficult," she said.

But while welcoming the call for change, health professionals and abortion providers have told Wales Live women have difficulties accessing abortion services in the first place.

Vivienne Rose, the treatment manager at the BPAS clinic in Cardiff, said women often go private to avoid long NHS waiting times "and being pregnant any longer than they want to be".

Waiting times, she said, can be anything from two weeks to six weeks.

"It's just too traumatic, it's too emotional, so they come here rather than wait that amount of time," she said.

'Discreet choices'

Cardiff has the lowest rate of NHS-funded early medical abortions in England and Wales at 66% and the second-highest private abortion rate at 12%.

However, Dr Nigel Davies, clinical director for obstetrics and gynaecology at Cardiff and Vale Health Board said women did not have to wait longer than two weeks for an appointment in the pregnancy advisory service and that all options for termination were delivered in a timely manner.

He added: "We respect women very often want to make discreet personal choices regarding termination which does sometime result in accessing private treatment."

A private abortion can cost anything from £400 to £1800, depending on the procedure.

A spokesman for the anti-abortion campaign group Society for the Protection of Unborn Children said it was "deeply disappointed and concerned" by Ms Rathbone's proposal, calling any move to liberalise legislation "unethical and unhelpful".

A Welsh Government spokesman said: "Whilst NICE quality standards are currently being developed in respect of waiting times, we expect health boards to make access to termination of pregnancy services as prompt, clear and transparent as possible.

"We are also considering evidence from clinicians that includes the provision of more efficient and safer services."

You can watch more on Wales Live, BBC One Wales, Wednesday 7 March at 22:30 GMT