PRESS RELEASE – 16 February 2006

Abortion Rights welcomes the government’s pilot study into medical abortion at home. The study has concluded that the procedure is safe and preferred by women seeking the privacy and support of a home environment. Medical abortion at home is widely and safely used by women in many countries including France and the USA. We hope that the Department of Health will move to extend such access to all women.

Contrary to popular belief, women in Britain still frequently face significant and distressing problems accessing abortion, including a postcode lottery of long NHS waiting lists and obstructive GPs. If made widely available, medical abortion at home may reduce current unfair barriers to abortion services in Britain and improve women’s choices and experience of abortion.

Women’s decisions about whether or not to end an unwanted pregnancy are carefully made because they have huge impact on her life. Improving women’s access to and experience of abortion will be of huge benefit to women across Britain.

Ends
For further information and interviews please contact Anne Quesney, Abortion Rights Direct on 020 7278 5539 or mobile 07909 974 101.

Notes to editor:

1. Abortion Rights is the national pro-choice campaign, working to defend and extend abortion rights and provide a pro-choice voice to the media.

2. Abortion Rights is campaigning to:
Liberalise the current UK abortion law and make abortion available on request in the first three months and with one doctor’s signature thereafter.
Improve access to, and experience of, abortion – ensure that all women in the UK have equal access to safe, legal and free abortion.
Oppose any restrictions to women’s current rights and access to abortion

3. Abortion in the UK
One in three women has an abortion in her lifetime
76 per cent of the British population support a woman’s right to choose.
Abortion laws in the UK are more restrictive than in almost every other European country, where abortion on request is legal in the first three months of pregnancy
Abortion has been legal in Britain since 1967, but only by permission of two doctors and in restricted circumstances
Ten per cent of GPs consider themselves to be conscientious objectors and frequently refuse to grant women an abortion, despite General Medical Council guidelines.
A quarter of women having abortions in England and Wales have to pay for them - there are no public funds available specifically to help poorer women in these circumstances