Verification of gestational age for at-home abortions

Motion Text

That this House welcomes the introduction of the At Home Early Medical Abortion (Review) Bill [HL] that seeks a review into the risks to women of at-home abortion under current law; expresses its support for the Bill; calls on the Government to reinstate in-person medical appointments before abortion pills may be prescribed to determine the gestational age of a baby and to ensure women seeking abortion are not facing coercion; notes that recent illegal late-term abortions of viable unborn babies would not have been able to occur had in-person appointments to accurately assess gestational age been required; further notes that self-performing a late-term medical abortion away from a clinical environment without in-person medical supervision puts the lives of women at considerable risk; and calls on the House to reject proposals that would likely lead to a worsening of the situation and the lives of many more women being endangered, by removing offences that make it illegal to perform a self-abortion right through to birth.