Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has (a) commissioned or (b) plans to commission research on the health and welfare of women who have used home-administered early medical abortion during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.

The Department has no plans to commission research on this specific issue.

The Government’s public consultation on whether to make permanent the temporary measure allowing for home use of both pills for early medical abortion up to 10 weeks gestation for all eligible women asked questions about the impact on the provision of services for women and girls with particular regard to safety. The consultation has now closed and we are considering all evidence submitted and plan to publish our response later this year.