Thank you for contacting me about abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic and the availability of home abortions in Wales.

 I am extremely sorry to hear about the women who died in England as a result of home abortions, and my thoughts are with their families and friends.

In Wales, women have been allowed to take the abortion pill misoprostol in their own home since 2018 as, previously, the two pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, were required to be taken 24 to 48 hours apart in a clinic. Given the difficulty in scheduling these two visits, and that women often experience heavy bleeding within an hour of taking misoprostol, women have been given this choice.

Ordinarily, the Abortion Act 1967 would apply, which requires two doctors to certify that a request for an abortion meets at least one ground laid out in the Act.  However, as you point out, emergency measures have been put in place to cover essential abortion care during the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures will last only as long as the temporary provisions enacted by the Coronavirus Act 2020. 

Nevertheless, given the seriousness of these individual cases, my colleague, the Shadow Minister for Health, Social Services and Sport, Andrew RT Davies MS, will raise your concerns with the First Minister at the earliest opportunity, to ensure this practice is not taking place in Wales now and will not in any subsequent lockdown.  

Thank you again for taking the time to write to me.

Yours sincerely

Mark Isherwood MS/AS

Member of the Welsh Parliament/Senedd Cymru for North Wales Shadow Minister for Local Government, Housing and Communities Shadow Minister for the Armed Forces and North Wales