Pregnant women who want to terminate their pregnancy can safely take abortion drug RU486 at home, a pilot study in the United Kingdom has found. The study, funded by Britain's Health Department, found that such abortions have no serious repercussions for the women.
Under the study, researchers reviewed data on 172 women who were given the drug, also called mifepristone, under a nurse's supervision at a primary care center. The study subjects returned a couple of days later to take a follow-up tablet misoprostol, which induces abortions within a period of hours.
Such abortions can be carried out on women whose pregnancies are below nine weeks. As of now, the women opting for this mode of abortion are hospitalized till the entire fetus is out. But the study subjects were administered the pill in primary care centers to see if home abortions were possible. None of the 172 women faced any major complications that required immediate hospitalization.
“This has been a successful pilot and it has proved that abortion is safe outside a hospital. We haven't had any significant problems apart from one woman who had a slightly heavy bleed. If she had been at home she would have called our help line and she would have been given help. Some women experienced pain and they were given painkillers.
In my opinion medical abortions outside of acute hospitals seem to be safe,” said Shirley Butler, the project manager of the pilot study. She, however, refused to divulge further details about the location of the study for fear of backlash from the anti-abortion brigade.
If found safe, the pill will make it easy for women to their terminate pregnancy in the privacy of their homes. Family Planning Association's chief executive Anne Weyman said the study was 'encouraging'. “Medical abortion is a highly safe and effective procedure, and completing the second stage at home can provide greater comfort and privacy. It also reduces the number of visits needed to a clinic and is already common practice in a number of countries, including the United States,” she added.
However, pro-life campaigners have opposed the use of the pills at home, expressing concerns that such a move might lead to more abortions and abuse of the pills by young girls. Life spokesperson Nuala Scarisbrick said, “I cannot think of anything worse than having to abort at home, with the sudden bleeding, stomach cramps, nausea and fainting it can involve. The woman could be all on her own. She may not have told anybody about her pregnancy. If she is found bleeding heavily in the bathroom, no one will know what has gone wrong."
ProLife Alliance's Julia Millington seconded Quintavalle's opinions. “Abortion in any circumstance is a traumatic experience. They haven't considered the psychological effects. I can't imagine anything more traumatic than for women to go through this alone at home,” she said.
According to Comment on Reproductive Ethics spokesperson Josephine Quintavalle seeing the 'loss of a child' will be traumatic for women, especially young girls, if the abortions are done at home. “There is a sense that this will be an option for young girls trying to keep things hidden. It may be easier to take a pill at home and hope Mum doesn't find out,” she said.
Meanwhile, a Department of Health spokesperson soothed some feathers by contending that the safety of the pills for home use is still to be reviewed. “No changes to the way abortions are carried out will be approved unless we are content that there is no risk to the women's safety,” the spokesperson added. Every year, United Kingdom sees about 200,000 abortions, of which 25,000 are conducted using the pills.
