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BBC News - NI health trusts 'stopped from carrying out early abortions' @BBCJayneMcC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52221872
In another layer to the story to the delay to abortion services starting in Northern Ireland - it is clear health professionals want to deliver services, and they have institutional support from Trusts on this - what remains unclear is why @healthdpt are blocking this?
The two issues we face are - the delay in implementing the new regulations and also - why we do not have telemedicine abortion services like the rest of the UK and Ireland at the time of #COVID19 - these two issues means access to abortion is virtually impossible ...
Faced with this @NIOgov think it is ok to advise women to travel to England by boat. In recognition of this impossible situation @All4Choice @a4cderry are now facilitating telemedicine abortion with partners @abortionpil @WomenHelpOrg
For those unsure about telemedicine abortion a quick explainer is - a woman contacts a provider, they complete an assessment to see do they meet criteria - if yes then the medication is posted to them. This method has been deemed safe by numerous large scale studies globally.
Telemedicine at the time of #covid19 allows women to #StayHomeSaveLives - the difference between it and clinical medical abortion means instead of taking 1 tablet in the clinic and 4 at home, they take all 5 at home.
Telemedicine might seem an odd way to access care - but is used worldwide and growing in use in NI. Last week for instance when my youngest kid was ill I spoke to our GP by phone and they sent a prescription to the pharmacy. It is very straightforward.
So it is bizarre to say the least why @niexecutive are dragging their heels on this, why @RobinSwannMoH won't push it forward. Action on this is needed urgently.
To sum up -apart from what @All4Choice @a4cderry are offering we currently have NO abortion services in NI. NONE. This is horrendous. Last week we had reports of women attempting suicide because they couldn't get an abortion. We can't have more cases like this, we can't.
