Abortion: Telemedicine

(asked on 30th March 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact the removal of early medical abortion at home may have on the average gestation age at which abortion is carried out.


Answered by
Maggie Throup Portrait
Maggie Throup
This question was answered on 26th April 2022

We assessed the evidence received from the responses to the Government’s consultation on whether the temporary approval should be made permanent. This included questions on the impact on the provision of abortion services including for the workforce, service delivery and value for money. The consultation asked about accessibility and safety for women and we received responses on reduced waiting times and gestation. The summary of these responses is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/home-use-of-both-pills-for-early-medical-abortion/outcome/home-use-of-both-pills-for-early-medical-abortion-ema-up-to-10-weeks-gestation-summary-of-consultation-responses

No specific assessment has been made of the World Health Organization’s recommendations of 9 March 2022. An amendment to the Health and Care Bill sought to make the temporary approval permanent. On 30 March 2022 Parliament approved the permanent home use of early medical abortion. Further detail on the measure coming into force will be set out in due course.

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