Women living in Scotland will still be allowed to take abortion drugs at home after a judge threw out a legal challenge against the policy, ruling that it did not break the law.
Judge Lady Wise rejected the arguments put forward by a pro-life organisation about misoprostol, which women in Scotland have been allowed to take at home since October last year.
“It seems to me that patients who self-administer medication at home may still be described as being treated by their medical practitioner”
Lady Wise
However, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) campaign group insisted that the policy was “unlawful” and said it intended to appeal the decision.
Scotland is currently the only part of the UK that allows women to take misoprostol, one of the medicines that makes up the abortion pill, at home rather than in a registered clinic.
Those in favour of the move argued that it would save women from making multiple trips to clinics and end experiences such as starting the symptoms of miscarriage when travelling home.
During the hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, lawyers for the SPUC argued that under the 1967 Abortion Act, home was not a “permissible” place for the termination of a pregnancy.
They also argued that the policy was contrary to the legal requirement for abortion to be carried out by a medical practitioner. Both points was disputed by the Scottish Government‘s lawyers.
Ruling welcomed
In her ruling, Lady Wise said a person’s home could be defined as a permissible location for an abortion and that they were following the guidance given by their doctor.
“It seems to me that patients who self-administer medication at home may still be described as being treated by their medical practitioner who remains in charge of that treatment,” she said.
Her ruling was welcomed by Professor Lesley Regan, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, who said the policy should now be extended to England.
But SPUC chief executive John Deighan said the group was “extremely disappointed” with the judge’s decision and signalled that an appeal would be lodged.
“We maintain the belief that our arguments convincingly exposed the unlawfulness of the actions taken by the Scottish Government which are in contravention of the law,” he added.
“For the sake of women’s health and the universal right to life we cannot stand idly by whilst such a detrimental measure is implemented in the name of health care.”
The vast majority of abortions in Scotland take place at less than nine weeks gestation, and are medical rather than surgical procedures.
A medical abortion procedure consists of two pills. The first, mifepristone, detaches the foetus from the uterus by causing the lining of the uterus to break down and the second, misoprostol, induces a miscarriage.
