Safe abortion day 2020 - Why Care at Home?

The International Day for Safe Abortion is held annually on the 28th of September. Normally on the Saturday closest to this date we join with our sister organisation the Abortion Rights Campaign in marching through the streets of Dublin at the March for Choice. This year we can’t have our usual march and rally, but we have a bumper programme of online events.

The international theme[1] this year is ‘Self-managed abortion' and our local theme is 'care at home'. There were a few reasons for picking this theme.

Firstly, the home use of abortion pills following consultation with a medical professional is safe. While we have home use of abortion pills both North and South, the service provision in NI falls far short or the healthcare that should be commissioned by the Department of Health in NI following the regulations[2] introduced in April. Despite the regulations providing for abortion on request up to 12 weeks, and for limited reasons at later gestation, the DoH have refused to commission any services. Instead there is an ‘interim’ measure in place providing for early medical abortion, that is abortion with pills, up to 10 weeks. As the services have not been commissioned it is hard to find information about where one can go, we’ve even had doctors contact us at A4C as they were unsure of the new law. The DoH is failing both healthcare professionals and people who need an abortion. For some in NI, if they qualify, they can order the pills to be delivered by post from BPAS[3] and others continue to use the services of Women on Web[4] and Women Help Women[5],  which is currently not a criminal offence. Information on how to access abortion in Northern Ireland has not been published by any of our Health Trusts, again, due to a failure of the Department of Health to provide information and services. Informing Choices NI[6] do sterling work in supporting people with access up to 10 weeks but again are not supported to do this by our Health Department and have to rely on charity funding.

 Care at Home also refers to the many women and pregnant people still forced to travel to GB for abortion care. In 2019 UK Government statistics[7] show 1,014 women travelled to England for abortion care from Northern Ireland, and 375 from the Republic of Ireland

. Even at the height of the pandemic and Covid-19 restrictions, the NI Office was suggesting that people travel to England for funded abortion care. At a time when there were no flights, that meant an 8 hour freight ferry journey to England and back, for care that should have been available at home.  Because of Covid-19, measures for telemedicine were put in place across GB to protect both women and pregnant people who need and early medical abortion, and healthcare providers. NI once again stands as a place apart failing to offer those who need abortions care even though there is now a legal obligation for these services to be provided.


Finally, we have all been spending a lot more time at home, and we care! We care about the people who need to access an abortion, for whatever reason. We care about those who are unable to travel because of immigration status, childcare responsibilities, precarious work, an abusive or controlling partner or family, or a global pandemic! We care about our community of activists who continue to work together to support themselves and others where the government has failed. We care about the people being denied abortion care that the regulations provide for, we care about the people being harassed as they access abortion care, we care about the healthcare professionals who experience criminal damage and threats because they are conscientious providers. Our events this weekend are a mixture of educational workshops and discussions, and social activities with something for everyone.

[1] https://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/28-september-2020/

[2] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/345/contents/made

[3] https://www.bpas.org/abortion-care/abortion-treatments/the-abortion-pill/remote-treatment/

[4] https://www.womenonweb.org

[5] https://womenhelp.org

[6] https://informingchoicesni.org

[7] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/abortion-statistics-for-england-and-wales

Virtual March for Choice Programme

On Friday night from 7pm-9pm we are hosting ‘Colouring for Care at Home’. Shannon Patterson from Alliance for Choice Derry has created some amazing colouring in sheets which you can download here. Log in and create some pro-choice artwork to display in your window, or take a picture and share it with us with #CareAtHome for our virtual March For Choice. Email us to register for the online room at alliancechoice4@gmail.com

Saturday morning we’ll post our Storytime for Choice. This is a recorded reading of ‘A is for Activist’ and some printable children’s activities themed to the March for Choice. The March is always a family friendly event, so we wanted this to continue at the virtual event. We know children don’t always stick to a schedule, so these activities will be uploaded on our Facebook page at 10am for you to take part in whenever suits you.

Our session on Self-Managed Abortion on Saturday at 1pm, details the drugs used for early medical abortion, the methods of taking the pills for the most effective outcomes, the safety measures for afterwards, how to look out for complications and what to do if they arise.

Email alliancechoice4@gmail.com to register for the workshop.

From 3:30pm our friends in the Abortion Rights Campaign are hosting a Providers Panel. Log in to hear from those on the ground who have been providing abortion care in Ireland since January 2019, and from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service - who continue to care for those people still unable to access Care at Home. Watch the roundtable here.

At 7pm its Covideo Party Time! Watch ‘Reversing Roe’ on Netflix and follow the Abortion Rights Campaign’s live tweets on @FreeSafeLegal. This film is sure to get you fired up for the lobbying needed to ensure services are commission in NI, and for the review of the Irish legislation next year.

Events continue into Sunday! The fight for reproductive justice is a global one, and we are proud to work in solidarity with activists from all over. Join the Abortion Rights Campaign at 1 pm for a conversation on religious fundamentalism and abortion in Europe with activists from Ireland, Andorra, Gibraltar, Malta and Spain, watch here. Keep an eye out for the launch of Letirim ARC’s short film on Sunday too, ‘Normal People Need Abortions’.

On Safe Abortion Day itself, The International Campaign for Safe Abortion is asking people to join their ‘ @ Your Government’ twitter action. Therefore, on Monday 28th September we are asking you to contact Health Minister Robin Swann and Secretary of State Brandon Lewis calling for #CareAtHome, and the full implementation of the abortion regulations.

At Alliance for Choice we want everyone to have access to free, safe, legal, and local abortion care should they want or need it. Therefore we have asked both the NIO and DoH for all services, as mandated by law, to be provided to people in NI through our Health Service. These services should include home use, as recommended by the World Health Organisation, and telemedicine as in place across GB. We urgently need the DoH to commission services in line with the regulations, fulfilling their legal duty, as well as a public awareness campaign and training for healthcare professionals. Until the government does their job, Alliance for Choice will continue to share international best practice guidance and support those who need to access abortion.