Reforming abortion services in the UK: less hypocrisy, more acknowledgment of complexity

Barriers to accessing abortion services and perspectives on using mifepristone and misoprostol at home in Great Britain

“…Third, abortions carried out outside the specific provisions of the act are illegal and carry a criminal penalty of penal servitude for life under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act in England and Wales, and under common law in Scotland [5]. The criminal penalty attached to abortion not conducted according to a specific set of circumstances prohibits telemedicine abortion under current regulatory policy in Britain and also contributes to stigma [6].…”

Triumphs and trials with the UK abortion law: The power of collaboration in abortion reform

“…8 All cases require third-party authorization from two doctors, and doctors can refuse to provide care on grounds of conscience. There is broad consensus among healthcare practitioners that this is hypocritical and anachronistic, 9 rooting abortion care in an era when a woman would need to have the permission of her husband to obtain oral contraception, when medical paternalism was the norm, and before the evolution of modern concepts of patient autonomy, choice, and informed consent. It has also prevented best practice; for example, both the World Health Organization (WHO) 10 and the UK's own guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 11 recommend maximizing the role of nurses and midwives in abortion care, yet it remains illegal for them to prescribe abortion medication or to perform an abortion autonomously.…”

A farewell and welcome

“…Two Social Media Editors have during the last 4 years each transformed our social media presence, and more recently we appointed a Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) Editor and have worked as a wider team on developing policy and practice around patient involvement 5. We have also increased commissioning activity, markedly increased our international lay media coverage with the help of the BMJ press office, and campaigned on abortion law reform 6 7…”