London - The increased use of the internet by women seeking
to buy medication to end unwanted pregnancies in countries where
abortion is restricted is worrying campaigners in Britain, a report
said Friday.
A medical study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology found that more than one in 10 customers using one of the
most well-known websites required a surgical procedure after taking
the medication for an abortion at home.
Women in more than 70 countries where legal access to abortion is
highly restricted, including Poland and the British province of
Northern Ireland, have used the internet site Women on Web to
purchase the drugs for 55 pounds (110 dollars) a time, the study
said.
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, the report said.
The website says it helps women 'gain access to a safe abortion
with pills in order to reduce the number of deaths due to unsafe
abortions.'
But the study showed that 11 per cent 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 per cent said they were just grateful to have been able to
have an abortion in this way, and 30 per cent said it had been
stressful but they found the experience acceptable.
Women on Web posts the drugs only to countries where abortion is
heavily restricted, and to women who declare they are less than nine
weeks' pregnant.
Customers must answer 25 questions before they are allowed to
purchase the drugs, and women are advised to have a pregnancy test
and an ultrasound if possible.
However, anti-abortion campaigners said women often understated
the period of gestation in order to obtain the medication.
'This is very worrying indeed. It's like a cynical form of
back-street abortion,' said Josephine Quintavalle, of anti-abortion
campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics.
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