Question reference: S5W-29604
- Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 3 June 2020
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Current status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 17 June 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports from England that a woman took abortion pills at 28 weeks gestation, what assurances it can give that such practice is not possible in Scotland, as these pills can be posted out without a physical consultation with a medical professional.
Answer
A revised approval came into force on 31 March to help abortion services to continue safely during the COVID-19 outbreak. This enables early medical abortions to proceed via telemedicine and with a home delivery or collection of the package of mifepristone and misoprostol medication, where this is clinically appropriate for the patient. In line with Scottish Abortion Care Providers guidelines, abortion medication should only be taken at home where the patient’s pregnancy is under 12 weeks gestation.
Patients are still being seen in person where there are clinical reasons for this, including where there is uncertainty about the gestation of the pregnancy. We will continue to monitor progress with NHS Boards, but there is no evidence as yet of any increase in complications related to the new approval or of patients being able to take pills at home when their pregnancy was over 12 weeks gestation.