Women should be allowed to take abortion pills from the comfort of their own home and without seeing a doctor face-to-face, leading doctors have said.

As part a new report titled “Better for Women”, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has called on the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to reconsider its guidelines regarding medical abortions.

In the report, which aims to remove barriers to accessing care by making more use of technology such as telemedicine, the doctors suggest that women should be able to obtain abortion pills following an online chat, such as via Skype or FaceTime.

Similarly, while women are already allowed to take the second medicine needed for an early medical abortion, misoprostol, at home, the RCOG calls for the same rules to be extended to the first drug, mifepristone.

Professor Lesley Regan, president of the RCOG, said that the DHSC greatly improved women’s experience of abortion care when it allowed women to take misoprostol in 2018, a significant move she says has meant women no longer have to suffer the “distress or embarrassment of bleeding and cramping pain” during their journey home.

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“In 2019 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommended greater use of online and telephone consultations to streamline the provision of abortion care,” Regan explained.

“To support this new best practice guidance, the Department of Health and Social Care should also consider allowing women, after their assessment, to take mifepristone in the comfort and convenience of their own home.

“This would improve the accessibility of early medical abortion care for women, particularly for those who live in rural areas or those with child caring commitments.”

The RCOG report added that the current definition of “at home” is restrictive and should be widened, meaning that women without a fixed address may not qualify for the ability to take their abortion drugs outside of a clinic.

The report also said the UK and devolved governments “must legislate to introduce access zones around abortion care providers” to stop women being harassed.

An RCOG survey of more than 3,000 women to accompany the report found that many are struggling to access basic services around contraception, abortion care and the menopause.

Nearly four in 10 (37 per cent) women said they were unable to access contraception services locally while 60 per cent could not access unplanned pregnancy services, including abortion care, locally.

Similarly, just over a third (34 per cent) said they did not attend their last smear test and 58 per cent felt there weren’t enough local support services for the menopause.

The RCOG said one-stop women’s health clinics must be set up to provide healthcare needs for women in one location and at one time.

These clinics should be available in the evenings and at weekends to improve accessibility for girls and women, it added.

According to statistics from the DHSC, there were 200,608 abortions across England and Wales in 2018 – an increase of four per cent on the previous year and the highest number recorded.

For more information and support regarding abortion, you can contact Marie Stopes via its 24 hour advice line, which is available 365 days a year, on:

England, Scotland and Wales: 0345 300 8090

Northern Ireland: 0333 234 2184

Ireland: 1 800 200 374

International: +44 (0) 1454 457 542