A study found that most of the women who had travelled for a termination would “strongly consider” using illegal pills if necessary in the future

Women in Ireland would rather risk taking illegal abortion pills than travel for a termination, a study has found.

Thirty-eight women who had either travelled to the UK for an abortion or taken the illegal pills in Ireland between 2010 and 2017 were interviewed as part of the research, published in The BMJ yesterday.

Eleven of those women had travelled for abortion and 27 had used the illegal drugs. The report said that there was a “strong theme” among the 27 women of preferring to manage the abortion themselves rather than travel.

The study also said that most of the women who had travelled had not known about the pills, and that they would “strongly consider” using them in future if necessary.

The study was