Current status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 12 December 2017
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted a pilot exercise to establish the safety of allowing misoprostol to be taken outside of a hospital or clinic, and in the absence of medical staff, for the purpose of carrying out an abortion and, if so, whether it will publish the results, and what other action it has taken to determine the safety of the practice.
Patient safety is a priority for the Scottish Government. Allowing women to take misoprostol outwith a hospital setting where clinically appropriate is standard practice in other countries, including France, Sweden and Portugal and is supported by research studies demonstrating both its safety and effectiveness, and its acceptability to women.
Prior to this approach being permitted in Scotland, many women undergoing an early medical abortion would have taken misoprostol in a clinical setting, and then immediately travelled home in order to pass the pregnancy at home. Allowing misoprostol to be taken at home removes the need for an additional journey to a clinic, and the risk of a woman starting to pass the pregnancy while travelling to her home.