PRESS RELEASE: ACCESS TO ABORTION DURING COVID-19 CRISIS IN SCOTLAND

PRESS RELEASE: ACCESS TO ABORTION DURING COVID-19 CRISIS

27 March 2020

Today, Abortion Rights, have written to Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer seeking urgent measures to be taken to ensure that women can access abortion healthcare during the COVID-19 crisis.

The letter seeks the Scottish Government to take two specific measures:

1. To include within the Scottish COVID-19 Emergency Legislation provision to ensure doctors, nurses and midwives can ensure women’s access to abortion care during this crisis. This can be achieved by allowing one doctor, nurse or midwife to certify abortion procedures directly.
2. To issue further regulations and/or guidance on telemedicine with regards to the administration of the abortion pills to allow, as a temporary measure, both pills to be taken at home after a teleconference.

Jillian Merchant, Vice Chair of Abortion Rights, said:

“In this time of crisis, Government action is needed to ensure that women who require abortion healthcare can access this without putting themselves and healthcare professionals at risk. 

“The current, outdated, abortion legislation flies in the face of all current public health guidance to stay indoors and puts vulnerable women and healthcare professionals at an unnecessary risk during this crisis.

“Women in Scotland already require to jump through numerous, unnecessary, hoops to access abortion. In this time of crisis it is simply unacceptable to expose women and medical practitioners to the risk of COVID-19, against all public health advice, when there are measures which can be taken to prevent this. 

“The need for two doctors signatures will mean that 6000 doctors will require to sign for abortions over the next three months. Not only does that put an unacceptable number of doctors, and women, at risk of COVID19-19 it also takes crucial – and much needed – medical practitioners away, unnecessarily, from dealing with the crisis. 

“Telemedicine for early medical abortions is a safe and effective practice – already recommend by expert bodies – with no clinical reason why, after the necessary consultation, both abortion pills can be prescribed, delivered and taken at home”.   

Ends 

Notes to the Editor: 

1. Media contact for comment and interviews Jillian Merchant (07969 691 618 or arcscotlandonline@gmail.com)
2. Last weekend, senior doctors and nurses from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Nursing, and the UK’s abortion care providers wrote to the Secretary of State for Health to raise concerns that it may not be possible, in England and Wales, to obtain these signatures as we approach the peak impact of COVID-19 on the UK.
3. This week when the Secretary of State for Health published guidance in relation to England and Wales to permit both abortion pills to be taken at home only to retract it hours later. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-52018805
4. More than 75% of Scots are in favour of supporting abortion. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/family-relationships/scots-back-womens-right-choose- 6154265
5. Abortion Rights has a Scottish Committee and local groups around Scotland. http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/category/local-groups/abortion-rights-committee-scotland/