By: James Watson, PA, The Independent
Friday, 11 July 2008
Women living in countries where abortion is restricted – including Northern Ireland – are using the internet to buy medication enabling them to perform an abortion at home, it emerged today.
Women in more than 70 countries, including Northern Ireland, have used the internet site Women on Web to purchase the drugs for £55 a time.
Women on Web is available in five languages and offers the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol. It says a combination of the pills causes the non-surgical termination of a pregnancy and can be used up to the ninth week.
But the BBC reports a study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology found that 11% of 400 customers went on to need a surgical procedure – either because the drugs had not completed the abortion or because of excessive bleeding.
Of 200 women who answered questions about their experiences, almost 60% said they were just grateful to have been able to have an abortion in this way, and 30% said it had been stressful but they found the experience acceptable.
