The HSE has admitted that Ireland’s ‘DIY’ abortion pill system makes it harder to identify when women are being coerced or abused by their partners.
The admission came in response to a parliamentary question put forward by Independent TD for Laois-Offaly, Carol Nolan last month. In response to Deputy Nolan’s question, the HSE claimed that telemedicine abortion (‘DIY home abortion through abortion pills taken without face-to-face consultation) had been a ‘success’, yet conceded that the system was open to being abused.
As abortion pills by post remain legal in Ireland despite being initially introduced as a temporary measure, Deputy Nolan was asking what measures were currently in place to “verify the gestational age of a woman seeking an abortion under current temporary telemedicine provisions to ensure she is within the gestational limit set out” in the law.
‘DIY’ abortion removes abortion from the clinical setting and allows women to have an abortion without seeing a medical professional face-to-face. Opponents of the controversial scheme have repeatedly pointed out that the system removes safeguards against the possibility of coercion and abuse. The HSE has now confirmed that this is the case.
“Meeting the woman in person increases the likelihood of the provider identifying any coercion or domestic abuse,” the heath service said in its correspondence with the pro-life TD.
The HSE also said that “in-person consultations allow provision of personalised care and allow potential problems to be identified and mitigated”.
Last year, it was revealed that, in Ireland, a total of 94 claims have been made against the state in relation to ‘adverse outcomes’ after abortion since it was legalised. In an update last month, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín told the Dáil that the State Claims Agency has now received 103 notifications of ‘adverse incidents’, showing that claims continue to rise.
Yet the public have not been told whether abortion pills at home are a factor – with pro-life commentators slamming the government for not providing women facing crisis pregnancies with enough information and a lack of face-to-face consultation.
An undercover investigation carried out by Christian Concern in 2021 found that abortion centres were not carrying out basic checks before sending women abortion pills for use at home. Growing concern around the system led 600 medics in Britain to sign a letter in May last year demanding that the controversial pills by post scheme be scrapped – citing fears that abortion pills mailed after phone or online consultations were being used when the baby was beyond the legal ten-week limit – and possibly when the baby was beyond the 24-week limit for surgical abortions, with such cases reported in the UK.
They also said that the system made it easier for men to coerce women into abortions against their will – and failed to protect women who were being trafficked or abused.
The Life Institute said that the admission from the HSE was ‘deeply concerning’.
“Whilst the HSE have admitted that Ireland’s telemedicine abortion system helps enable coerced abortion and domestic abusers, it is astonishing that they are willing to justify the continuation of at-home abortions.
“In the statement released to Carol Nolan TD, the HSE claims that remote consultation is ‘safe, effective and acceptable’ to both ‘service users and providers’. But the truth is that this system acts only in the interest of profit-driven abortion providers, making their own jobs easier and less time-consuming while they profit off of the panic and despair of women in unplanned pregnancies.
“It enables abortion providers to give vulnerable women the means to end the lives of their own children, while not even taking the time to meet the woman to learn about her situation; to discuss alternatives; to ensure she is not trapped in a domestically abusive relationship or being coerced; or providing a scan for the woman to ensure she is at the gestation she says she is.
The organisation continued: “While this system might make it more convenient and hassle-free for abortion providers to provide women with these lethal pills, women are suffering and have suffered because of a system that removes vital safeguards. We already know of recent cases in England, where women took abortion pills, having been given them after one phone consultation, to abort babies as old as 20 weeks. The evidence we are hearing is harrowing. We know two women in the UK have died since a similar ‘pills by post’ scheme was brought into Britain – and yet we see the continuation of this unsafe, unacceptable ‘treatment’.
“The dangers of ‘DIY’ abortions are well known. In addition to these serious safety concerns, there is no guarantee about who the abortion drugs are being given to; there are no in-person checks on the gestation of the baby, and it is almost impossible to accurately assess whether or not the woman is being coerced,” the organisation added.
Earlier this month, Gript reported on a BBC poll which found that thousands of 18-24-year old women reported being given abortion pills or substances to cause abortion without their knowledge or consent. The findings have prompted serious concerns over coercion and the way the UK’s telemedicine abortion service enables abusive and controlling individuals.