DOCTORS are backing a change in the law to allow home abortions following a successful Scottish trial in which 50 women were allowed to perform self-administered "chemical terminations".
Medics say the trial - in which embryos were aborted at up to nine weeks old by taking a pill at home - was supported by all the women who took part.
The pilot was approved by the Scottish Executive and now the UK Department of Health is consider
ing whether to allow the procedure to take place throughout the country.
The trial was the first time such a procedure has been allowed at home in Scotland and it has angered anti-abortion groups who claim it makes termination too easy.
But the women who took part reported that being at home amid familiar surroundings made the traumatic process easier to deal with.
Abortion law is reserved by Westminster, and the Department of Health has to consider whether to alter the existing ban on terminations outside hospitals and licensed clinics.
In normal drug-induced abortions, two drugs are administered under medical supervision in hospital 48 hours apart.
Under the Scottish pilot, which began two years ago and was conducted by Dr Haitham Hamoda at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary's obstetrics and gynaecology unit, women were given the first pill in hospital and then allowed to go home to take the second.
"None of the women reported any problems and they found the experience highly acceptable," said Hamoda, who now works at St Mary's Hospital in London.
"All the women were within a five-mile radius of the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and we phoned every few hours to check on them.
"While it should never replace hospital abortion, it obviously suits some women to have it done at home, and it would be fair to give them the choice."
The first drug, mifepristone, works by blocking progesterone, a key hormone involved in pregnancy. The second drug, misoprostol, causes cramps in the womb, making the lining of the uterus break down.
One of Hamoda's colleagues, Dr Gillian Penney, a senior lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology at Aberdeen University, said: "Medical abortion is like having an extremely heavy period. Although it is a painful procedure, all women are offered painkillers. If we can provide abortion at home more cheaply but still in a safe and acceptable manner then it is something to be considered, but it should be an option alongside hospital treatment."
Another study by the same group also revealed one in three women in the UK would prefer to have a home abortion.
Penney added: "I was very surprised by the level of acceptability to home abortion amongst women. I thought it would be frightening for women and they would want to be with the necessary staff who can give them support through the procedure and reassure them. But women who experienced it for real genuinely felt it was something they could cope with in the home. Many preferred their own choice of companions they could have in their own home, and being able to use their own toilet facilities."
Home abortions are already carried out in countries such as the United States and France, where it has quickly become the standard choice for women having drug-induced terminations.
Studies from the US have reported high efficacy and acceptability of medical abortion in the home setting.
But in the UK abortion law rules that medical and surgical abortions can only be carried out in approved premises.
Two years ago the British Pregnancy Advisory Service called for home abortions to be legalised. The government is now understood to be considering amending the law to allow medically controlled home abortions, as called for by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Some clinics already allow women to take both courses of abortion pills in hospital before sending them home immediately.
But pro-life campaigners hit out at the moves to offer women home abortions, claiming it could make termination seem like an easy option and leave many women traumatised by the experience.
John Sweeney, of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children Scotland, condemned the Aberdeen trial as a return to "back street" abortions.
He said: "We have been told repeatedly that women should be able to have abortions in the safe and professional environment of a hospital. The nature of this drug means that the woman must live with her abortion over a number of days."
In Scotland last year, 54% of the 12,447 abortions which took place were carried out using drugs rather than surgery.
Tory MSP Phil Gallie said: "I am concerned that home abortions be seen as an easy option. We already have far too many abortions in Scotland."
Abortion laws came under the spotlight ahead of the general election after Professor Stuart Campbell at London's Create Health Clinic produced a dramatic ultrasound film of a 12-week foetus "walking" in the womb.
Campaigners claimed the striking images emphasised the need to reduce the 24-week legal limit for abortions.
But last week doctors at the British Medical Association voted overwhelmingly to reject a cut in the upper limit, claiming babies born with disabilities below 24 weeks were unlikely to survive.
