BBC polling shows significant proportion of women report being given abortion pills without their consent, as over 600 medical professionals in the UK have called for an end to ‘DIY’ home abortion services in an open letter to the Government.

The Savanta ComRes poll commissioned by the BBC shows that 5% of women aged between 18 and 24 and 4% of women aged between 25 and 34 had been given “something (tablets/substance) to cause an abortion” without their consent.

The polling also shows that 15% of women experienced “pressure to terminate a pregnancy” when they did not want to and 5% of women experienced “physical violence with intention to force a miscarriage / end a pregnancy”.

Prior to ‘DIY’ abortion being allowed during the pandemic, women were given the first set of abortion pills in a medical abortion in person, making it much harder for third parties to influence, pressure, or coerce them into taking the lethal drugs.

The open letter from the medics requests that the ‘at-home’ abortion schemes in England, Scotland, and Wales be revoked with immediate effect.

The Department of Health and Social Care already confirmed that the temporary measure introduced for the COVID-19 pandemic will be wound down, but not until 30 August 2022.