Press Release

Late-term abortion prosecution highlights tragic consequences of pills by post

13 June 2023         Issued by: Christian Concern

Responding to the news that a woman has been sentenced for illegally inducing an abortion at 8 months’ gestation, Andrea Williams (chief executive, Christian Concern) comments:

“At Christian Concern, we warned over and over about the dangerous pills by post abortion policies and how easy it would be to procure pills illegally. 

“Our mystery client survey showed that this was possible and now we are seeing the tragic consequences of the lax policy BPAS campaigned so hard for.

“The responsibility for this tragedy lies firmly with pro-abortion campaigning organisations that promote an up-to-birth abortion culture and facilitated this dangerous and illegal abortion.

“Now a child has died and the mother lives with the terrible consequences. This should never have happened and would never have happened without the abortion industry’s pet policies.

“The government should urgently turn back the clock and end this disastrous policy of cheap, convenient, pills by post abortions.”

“At 32 weeks’ gestation, an unborn baby has a 95% chance of survival if delivered. Our abortion law rightly recognises that these precious humans deserve protection.

“The real scandal is that BPAS will not be held accountable for the reckless policies and processes that enabled this tragedy.

“BPAS is unashamedly campaigning to decriminalise abortion off the back of its own failure. BPAS appears to have little regard for the protection of the women it claims to serve – and no regard at all for their unborn children.

“Laws are there to protect life. Society is judged by how it treats is most vulnerable members. What does it say about us if we are not willing to protect a 32-week old, viable baby?”

Mystery client investigation highlighted ease of accessing powerful abortion drugs

The ease with which powerful abortion drugs could be accessed was exposed in 2011 by a mystery client investigation of the telemedicine service which found abortion providers sending out pills without safety checks to woman significantly over the 10 week pregnancy legal threshold.

Data released by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has also revealed multiple serious incidents, including four women being allowed by providers to have traumatic abortions more than 24 weeks into their pregnancies – 14 weeks beyond the legal limit for early medical abortion.

An NHS email leak revealed concerns from a senior midwife of the “escalating risks around the Pills by Post service,” which included reports of women dying following abortion.

Furthermore, Freedom of Information requests have revealed a surge in women having to call 999 following post-abortion complications. Data has also revealed over 10,000 cases of women needing treatment for retained products of conception since the service began.

A Savanta ComRes poll has shown 86% of GPs are concerned about the risk of women being coerced into having an abortion and the potential for having a medical abortion past the legal limit of ten weeks into gestation.

Despite all the evidence and safety concerns, Pills by Post was made permanent in August 2022.

Notes to editors

The full 2011 mystery client report: https://christianconcern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/CC-Resource-Abortion-At-Home-A-Mystery-Client-Investigation-201210.pdf

Images:

Instructions on how to take the abortion pills as part of the ‘treatment pack’ volunteers received in the post:

https://mcusercontent.com/bed173cc9adfcad1e0e442a35/images/b67c3d6a-e82d-4c03-bc1e-6b3295ef5d15.jpeg

The pills that enable ‘DIY’ home abortion:

https://mcusercontent.com/bed173cc9adfcad1e0e442a35/images/240bcdff-b3e4-4265-82ab-1043a0b04320.jpeg

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