Women in Northern Ireland are turning to the internet to buy £60 abortion pills because they cannot afford to travel to mainland Britain to terminate their pregnancies, it has been claimed. Concern revelealed that women  may misuse an online termination, putting their health at risk.

Audrey Simpson, director of the Family Planning Association in Belfast, revealed that a rising number of women had contacted her to say they had suffered complications after taking the pills. “These calls are increasing all the time,” she said. “Travelling for an abortion is expensive by comparison.”

Simpson said she was concerned that some women purchasing the pills, which should only be used up to the ninth week of pregnancy, had lied about the stage they were at on online questionnaires.

While the pills are legal to buy over the internet, campaigners fear that women may face a larger risk because they do not have a face-to-face consultation with a doctor. They also worry that women will not seek medical help if they suffer complications because they fear being arrested for inducing an abortion.

“Women in Northern Ireland ring us all the time asking if the sites selling the pills are reputable,” said Simpson. “There are women who have ‘lied’ about how far pregnant they are to get these pills. Yet if they suffer complications and go to their local A&E, doctors can report them for illegal conduct which can potentially land them with a hefty prison sentence.”

Dawn Purvis, leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), the only party in Northern Ireland that is “pro-choice”, described the online pills as a new “form of backstreet abortion”.

“There have been cases documented around the world where women have died from sourcing bogus medication or taking more than is required,” said Purvis. “I know of women who have taken several doses to make sure it worked. One woman contacted me after she had suffered internal haemorrhaging. I am hearing more about these ‘pills’ at the moment with the recession in full swing. Money is short and it’s mainly working-class women who can’t afford to travel. Buying the pills off the net is an easy solution.”

As it stands, abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland, with the exception of one circumstance: where it can be proved that continuation of a pregnancy results in a woman’s mental or physical health being in “grave” danger of “serious and permanent damage”.

To date, this does not include a woman who becomes pregnant as a result of rape or incest. It also doesn’t include pregnancies which are terminated due to foetal abnormality, tests for which are freely available in Northern Ireland from the 12th week of pregnancy.

“Basically the case law in Northern Ireland is based on the Bourne ruling which dates back to 1939 and the prosecution of a doctor who performed an abortion for a suicidal 14-year-old who became pregnant from gang rape,” explains Dawn Purvis. “However, there is plenty of ‘anecdotal’ evidence that abortions are available here for middle-class clientele in private clinics.”

According to Purvis, women who have later abortions in the UK or Europe are nearly always “working-class” women who can’t get the money together in time. “And if they do get the money, they can’t afford to bring anyone with them, so do that journey alone,” she added.

Although there are no “official” figures on abortion in Northern Ireland, last year 1,345 women who had abortions in clinics in England and Wales gave addresses in Northern Ireland. The FPA pointed out that the number did not take account of women who travelled for abortions in Scotland or further afield to countries such as Belgium.

Source: Guardian

Human Rights Watch report: “Ireland Abortion Limits Violate Human Rights”

Every day, women all over the world face the decision of whether to terminate crisis pregnancies they did not plan, did not want, or cannot continue. These decisions are not easy to make: they involve a personal assessment of the most intimate kind as the consequences of reproductive choices touch upon almost every aspect of a woman’s private life. If a woman is lucky, she will have the support of her family and friends as she makes this decision and then goes on to implement it. If she is not, she will face the decision alone, isolated from her sources of support.

As a matter of international law, she should, however, be able to count on the state to provide access to accurate information and services. But women in Ireland most certainly cannot count on the state providing them with information and services about abortion. Abortion is legally restricted in almost all circumstances, except where the pregnant woman’s life is in danger. Even in those rare circumstances where an abortion can be legally performed, it appears that it almost never happens. Despite interviewing a number of prominent obstetricians and physicians, Human Rights Watch was unable to document a single case where an abortion had been legally performed in Ireland. As a result, all women living on Irish soil are forced to travel to access a medical procedure.

The response of the Irish government to the need for abortion has been erratic and divisive, contributing directly to violations of women’s human rights, including those to health, information, privacy, freedom from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, life, equal protection under the law, and nondiscrimination. Women with crisis pregnancies are forced to navigate the emotional, financial, and health implications of their decisions unsupported—and in many cases sabotaged—by the state. The women interviewed by Human Rights Watch for this report described how isolated they felt, in large part as a result of the government’s inadequate and violatory policies.

While Irish service providers interviewed by Human Rights Watch all expressed concern that women—in particular women with limited resources—were resorting to unsafe backstreet abortions, such practices remain deeply hidden. The main reason for this is not that women have fewer abortions or that the Irish government provides adequate care, but rather the proximity of Ireland to the United Kingdom (UK) and continental Europe, where abortion is legal and available (though expensive) for women from Ireland—a situation that has allowed the Irish government to abdicate its responsibility to protect the human rights of women who require access to abortion by exporting the problem abroad. Since 1980, hundreds of thousands of women have traveled to the UK from Ireland to terminate their pregnancies. Many women have traveled to other European countries for the same reason.

The women interviewed by Human Rights Watch described a climate of fear and shame, at least in part attributable to the criminalization of abortion. They explained their concerns about disclosing that they had had an abortion and the burden of secrecy that they are forced to carry. They also described their confusion about whether they could legally leave Ireland to access an abortion in the UK or other parts of Europe, and their concerns about whether to access post-abortion care, legally available in Ireland.

They also described financial constraints. Every woman interviewed for this report told Human Rights Watch how difficult it was to raise the money needed to pay for travel and the costs of the abortion. Even those who were employed indicated that the costs related to traveling created a significant barrier and delayed their access.

The current economic climate will inevitably create new financial barriers that will further limit access, especially for women who are poor or unemployed. At the time of researching this report, Ireland’s economy was one of the strongest in Europe and Ireland was often referred to as the “Celtic Tiger.” Little more than a year later, the picture has changed dramatically. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted in June 2009 that “Ireland has been hit particularly hard by the global economic and financial crisis.” In September 2009, the Irish government reported unemployment figures at over 12 percent. These circumstances will conspire to reduce the numbers of women who can afford to travel to access safe and legal abortions and may force them to resort to less safe options or continue with unwanted pregnancies.

Source: Human Rights Watch

+ info

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Who can use an abortion clinic? What legal frameworks control abortion clinics?

What sources of post abortion counselling exist? Before considering a private abortion, how can you access emergency contraception? These questions, and many more, are answered in a friendly and non-judgemental way in the site’s sections on abortion information.

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