As part of a ‘mystery client’ investigation, ‘Saskia’ called abortion provider BPAS to see if it would send out pills to someone who offered a trivial reason for having an abortion – in this case, not wanting to be pregnant on holiday.
‘Saskia’ (not her real name) is told that the consultation will take just 30 minutes, and when asked why she would like an abortion, tells the midwife that it is because she doesn’t “want to worry about looking pregnant on the beach.”
In return, the midwife assures Saskia that “any reason that you ever give is always going to be valid … but what I have to do is attach what you tell me to a legal reason. But any reason other than the sex of the baby is a valid reason to us.” When ‘attaching’ Saskia’s trivial reason for an abortion to a legal one, the midwife says, “it sounds to me that the individual reason that you’re giving comes down to you just not being emotionally ready for a pregnancy right now.”
Abortion remains illegal in England and Wales unless specific grounds are met, not for any reason.
Saskia, who was not even pregnant, was sent the dangerous abortion pills after calling the telemedicine service as part of a ‘mystery shopper’ undercover investigation, commissioned by Christian Concern.
To date, 20 volunteers have taken part in the ‘mystery client’ exercise, to see if BPAS and Marie Stopes UK are abiding by the law and properly caring for women.
In every case, pills were sent to the volunteers, despite the use of false names, dates of birth and gestational dates.
The investigation shows that these home abortion schemes can be misused to procure illegal and dangerous abortions. Coercive partners, family members and groomers could obtain pills through these schemes to cover up abuse.
This investigation has revealed that the service can be manipulated by a third party to obtain abortion pills for an underage sexual abuse victim without any scrutiny.
Furthermore, the pills can also be obtained by a third party to obtain abortion pills which could then be surreptitiously put in a women’s food or drink.
The investigation also exposes that a tourist from another country, who does not have recourse to NHS funding for healthcare, could get an abortion using the ‘DIY’ abortion service and have it fully paid by the taxpayer on the NHS.
Find out more about DIY abortions