Some 2,879 women gave addresses from within the State at abortion clinics in England and Wales in 2018, down from 3,019 women in 2017, according to the latest data released by the UK department of health and compiled by the HSE. Ireland’s new abortion law came into operation in January.
In contrast, the number of women availing of online abortion pills rose by more than 13 per cent in 2018, with 1,405 people buying the pill online, according to figures one abortion pill provider gave to the HSE.
Data from the UK also shows that 107 women from Ireland contacted one online abortion pill provider in the first three months of 2019.
All of these women were directed by the provider to contact the HSE’s My Options phone line which offers guidance and support on how to access a medically supervised abortion in Ireland. Some 43 of these women received “additional support” from the online pill provider, compared to 184 women during the same period in 2018.
