Protest against the overturning of Roe v Wade last year (Picture: Matt Hrkac)
Health cuts are restricting women’s choices on abortion. A new report by the London School of Economics (LSE) found that medical abortions—using pills—has become the most common type of termination. Some 87 percent of all abortions in England and Wales were carried out using this method in 2021.
Abortion pills are a safe way of inducing a miscarriage to terminate a pregnancy, that many will choose over a surgical procedure. Continued access to abortion pills that pregnant people can take at home must be fought for. But not all affected will want a medical abortion.
Some women may want to keep their pregnancy secret from those they live with, making a surgical abortion impractical. Other women may have already experienced a medical abortion and not want to repeat an experience that can be traumatic. For those with a higher risk of blood clots, a surgical abortion may be the safest option.
But the choice is slowly being taken away. Abortion services are cut to the bone, slowly leading to medical abortions becoming the only viable kind of abortion care.
A surgical abortion is not a lengthy procedure, and usually takes between ten and 15 minutes. But it does require hospital stays that can last for up to four hours.
Before the procedure, women usually have one or two clinic appointments and must undergo a smear test. A medical abortion needs much fewer resources and is quicker. Usually, pregnant people only need one appointment to be given an abortion pill to take at home.
So it’s no surprise which kind of abortion is being used most frequently as part of abortion services provided by both the NHS and independent sector providers (ISP) such as charities.
The LSE report interviews several nurses and doctors working in abortion care. One nurse working in an ISP said, “Last year when the pandemic hit we were basically told, ‘look anybody under ten weeks is getting a medical abortion.
“‘They will not have the option of a surgical unless there are compelling reasons’ and so that sort of basically took the choice away”. But other health workers and campaigners say limiting abortion procedures to just medical abortion was happening before the pandemic.
The report also notes that a historical unwillingness to provide abortion care in the NHS leads abortion to be outsourced to private services. Charities and non-profits groups can only continue to provide abortion care if they remain financially viable, meaning medical abortion is favoured.
Fighting for abortion rights means fighting for the best possible care for women and a fully funded NHS
The battle for access to abortion pills continues in the United States. Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk—appointed by Donald Trump—halted Food and Drug Administration approval of the abortion drug, Mifepristone on Friday of last week. The drug is widely available where abortion is legal and has been for over 20 years.
Kacsmaryk’s ruling by could limit access to the drug for millions of women. Democrat representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that if the Supreme Court approves this ban, they would “institute a national abortion ban”.
President Joe Biden has said he will fight the Kacsmaryk ruling. But Biden stood by as the constitutional right to abortion was ripped away by the right wing last year.
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