Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made for the risk of women turning to illegal online abortion medication at home if he remove the temporary approval given during the covid-19 outbreak to women and girls to take an early medical abortion following a telephone or e-consultation with a clinician.

The Government’s public consultation on whether to make permanent the temporary measure allowing for home use of both pills for early medical abortion up to 10 weeks gestation for all eligible women has now closed. We are considering all evidence submitted, including relating to illegal online abortion websites and plan to publish our response later this year.