Experts hope the easing of home abortion services amid the coronavirus The pandemic will continue in England once the epidemic has passed.
Abortion is one of the most common procedures for women of childbearing age.
Demand for the service is believed to have increased across Europe as the coronavirus outbreak results in economic uncertainty, increased exposure to sexual abuse and limited access to contraception.
To find out how blockages may have restricted abortion services, scientists from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore analyzed procedures performed in 46 European regions.
The results revealed that abortions were banned or suspended in seven countries, including Hungary, Malta and Poland.
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England, Wales and Scotland have restricted services, but they have also embraced telemedicine abortion – when doctors oversee the use of pregnancy termination pills by videoconference or over the phone.
Women who are up to 10 weeks pregnant can also have two abortion pills delivered to their home. Controversial legislation generally requires women in England to take one of these tablets in a clinic.
Several experts hope that the pandemic will act as a “catalyst” for this “positive change to endure” once we return to life as we knew it.
In 2019 alone, over 207,000 abortions have been performed in women living in England and Wales.
“Abortion is an essential component of women’s sexual and reproductive care,” John Hopkins scientists wrote in the journal BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health.
“Although extremely safe according to recommended procedures, it is responsible for significant maternal morbidity and mortality when women do not have access to safe abortion care. “
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Amid the pandemic, scientists feared abortion services could be affected across Europe, warning that “politics often trumps the evidence.”
“With each passing week of political inaction, thousands of women are denied treatment that cannot be postponed and face the prospect of carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term or undergoing dangerous procedures,” they said. writing.
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Amid the coronavirus outbreak, abortions have been banned in six countries – Andorra, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino and Poland – and suspended in Hungary.
Access is restricted in 12 countries, while 11 regions have canceled or delayed services for women with symptoms of coronavirus or testing positive, including England, Wales and Scotland.
Denmark and the Stockholm region continue to offer telemedicine abortions, while this has been introduced in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France.
France also allows women to access the prescribed abortion drug, mifepristone, in their pharmacy.
Mifepristone and misoprostol – the second drug in the regimen – can now be delivered by post in England, Wales, Scotland and Georgia, or home in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
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“Overall, the diversity of pre-COVID-19 rules regulating abortion coupled with inconsistent responses to the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated a heterogeneous landscape of abortion provision in Europe,” wrote the scientists.
“The lack of a unified policy response to COVID-19 restrictions has increased inequalities in access to abortion in Europe, but some innovations, including telemedicine rolled out during the outbreak, could serve as a catalyst to ensure continuity and equity in abortion care.
“We believe that these advances, primarily conceived as temporary responses to a health crisis, could serve as a catalyst to ‘liberalize’ the provision of abortion and that they should become the standard of care. “
In March, UK authorities have allowed pregnant women up to 10 weeks pregnant to take both abortion pills at home “On a temporary basis”.
Normally, these women have to go to a licensed clinic to take mifepristone, which blocks the hormone that sustains pregnancy.
The women are then given misoprostol to take 24 to 48 hours later at home. This causes the uterus to contract so that the pregnancy can be “passed”.
Campaigners have long lobbied that there is no reason why the two drugs cannot be taken at home.
Women have already reported persistent cramping and bleeding after returning from the clinic after taking mifepristone, one of whom even had diarrhea on public transport.
Women in Wales and Scotland are already allowed to take both pills at home, but they cannot normally be delivered.
Abortions have only been legal for first trimester pregnancies in Northern Ireland since April 2020. Amid the pandemic, authorities are allowing misoprostol to be taken at home for up to 10 weeks.
“The abortion telemedicine pathway introduced in England, Scotland and Wales has enabled thousands of women to access safe abortion care during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the Dr Edward Morris, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
“We have seen huge benefits for women from this simple, yet effective innovation.
“There has been a reduction in wait times for women who have requested an abortion, clinic visits have decreased – which has limited transmission of the COVID-19 virus among women and staff – and complications related to abortion have decreased.
“We urge governments to ensure that these positive changes stay in place beyond the pandemic. “
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