During the height of the coronavirus pandemic a new abortion service was brought in to help women seeking pregnancy terminations throughout the turbulent times of lockdown.
Since then, telemedical abortions have helped hundreds of thousands of women across Britain. It allows them to access the treatment from the comfort, privacy and safety of their own homes.
Following it's introduction in April 2020, over 40,000 clients using MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes) have had safe early medical abortions using telemedicine. But now that all remaining covid restrictions have been lifted, the service is set to end this summer.
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Campaigners and experts say this could be devastating for women's health. Today (Wednesday 30 March) a crucial vote will be held in the House of Commons, where MPs will decide on an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill which would permanently allow telemedicine in England.
The service has already been adopted by the Welsh government permanently, and recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended telemedicine globally as part of its updated abortion guidelines. Campaigners who want the service to remain in England say there is "no sensible reason" why telemedicine abortions cannot be kept beyond August 2022.
When Claire, which is not her real name, found out she was pregnant she contacted an MSI UK call centre, informing workers her ex-partner and father of her son had been abusive. He had been jailed in 2018 but his family and friends who live close to her nearest clinic continued to threaten her and Claire told staff she didn't feel safe attending in person.
Thanks to telemedicine, Claire was given the choice to opt for the termination pills as well as a method of contraception - which were sent directly to her home. She said she felt more comfortable discussing distressing and intimate details over the phone than she would have done if she was forced to come into a clinic.
Shelley Doherty is a health advisor at the MSI choices clinic in south Manchester. She has been providing support to women choosing to have an abortion for the last six years.
She told the M.E.N that around 90 per cent of the women she speaks to on a daily basis are still opting for a telemedicine abortion - despite restrictions ending in the region.
Women can choose the service if they are under nine weeks and six days pregnant, and don't have any other relevant medical conditions. They will then have a phone consultation with a health advisor and pills can be posted or collected at a local clinic.
"It’s still the most popular form of treatment we provide and the need is still there. It's made access for women so much better, particularly vulnerable women in domestic violence situations or for mental health reasons," she said.
"Telemedicine has been so fantastic for women to have treatment and not leave their home if they don't want to. It was brought in during the pandemic but it was something that had been talked about for years before.
"It's about the choice. Predominately when I speak to women they are thrilled to know they don't have to come into the centre. But of course there are some that prefer to come in.
"Providing they are nine weeks and six days under, they get total choice about when to take their tablet. If they come to the clinic we have to physically watch them take a tablet like a headmistress in school. Why would we take away this choice from women?"
Shelley says she is also concerned about the strain on abortion clinics across the country as face-to-face appointments naturally take up more time than telemedicine.
"We are already incredibly busy. It does require a lot more staff if this ends. To have a surgical termination it's two appointments. The fact that telemedicine has been able to bring that down a bit is great.
"The WHO has agreed this is the right thing to do. The US and Europe do it. Even Wales has said it's okay. It seems we are being dragged backwards when the rest of the world is moving forward."
According to a study conducted by MSI, eight out of clients reported preferring telemedicine during the pandemic and two thirds (66 per cent) said they would choose it again if Covid-19 were no longer an issue. Since the introduction of the service, research shows that requests to illicit providers for pills from women in Great Britain has fallen by 88 per cent.
Ahead of today's vote, MSI Reproductive Choices’ UK Advocacy and Public Affairs Advisor, Louise McCudden said: "Following the government’s announcement of their intention to ignore clinical guidance and remove the option of early medical abortion at home, our hopes now sit with our elected MPs.
"From the World Health Organisation, to the US Food and Drug Administration, to the government in Wales there is a consensus that abortion pills can be safely taken at home. However, despite the evidence being the same, in England, women, trans men, and non-binary people are not trusted to make this choice for themselves.
"We call on people to write to or tweet their MP reminding them that this is a pro-choice country and that the overwhelming majority of women want this service to stay. And we call on MPs to listen to the evidence, the guidance of medical bodies and to women, and vote in favour of the amendment, which would make telemedicine available permanently."
The Department of Health and Social Care have been approached for comment.
