Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the home use of both pills for early medical abortions on women living in rural areas who may have to travel long distances to access in-clinic care.

We are considering all evidence submitted to 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. The consultation asked questions relating to the impact on the provision of abortion services for women and girls accessing these services with particular regard to safety, accessibility, including travel constraints and health outcomes experienced by different socioeconomic groups. We will publish our response in due course.