The Scottish government’s decision to allow women to take the abortion pill in their own homes has been upheld following a legal challenge by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) Scotland.

Doctors welcomed the ruling by the court of session in Edinburgh as “a very significant step forward”, after the anti-abortion campaign group argued that the licensing of the drug misoprostol for home use was “unlawful” and a threat to women’s health and that of their unborn babies.

Prof Lesley Regan, the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, urged the Westminster government to follow Holyrood’s example. She said: “It will allow women to avoid the distress and embarrassment of bleeding and pain during their journey home from an unnecessary second visit to a clinic or hospital. Ultimately, it will help to improve women’s access to safe and regulated abortion care and take pressure off NHS services.”

Scotland became the first part of the UK to allow women to take the abortion pill in their own homes after the chief medical officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood, confirmed last October that she had written to all Scottish health boards, with the backing of ministers, indicating that misoprostol could be taken outside a clinical setting. Although abortion law was devolved to Scotland under the post-independence referendum Scotland Act 2016, Calderwood was using powers available under the existing Abortion Act 1967.

Across Scotland, England and Wales, most abortions take place before 12 weeks with the use of drugs to induce miscarriage. These medical abortions accounted for 82.9% of terminations performed in Scotland in 2016.

Under current legislation, a woman must take the pills – issued with the consent of two doctors – inside a hospital or licensed clinic. The Scottish government’s revision of the licensing of misoprostol allows women to collect the pills and return home before taking them.

Issuing her ruling on Wednesday, judge Lady Wise wrote: “I have concluded that the decision of the respondents (Scottish government ministers) to approve a woman’s home as a place where one stage of the termination of pregnancy can be carried out is not unlawful.”

She went on: “As a generality, it seems to me that patients who self-administer medication at home may still be described as being treated by their medical practitioner who remains in charge of that treatment.”

John Deighan, the chief executive of SPUC Scotland, said that his group was “extremely disappointed” and vowed to appeal against the ruling.

“We maintain the belief that our arguments convincingly exposed the unlawfulness of the actions taken by the Scottish government which are in contravention of the law.

“For the sake of women’s health and the universal right to life, we cannot stand idly by whilst such a detrimental measure is implemented in the name of health care.”



