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BBC News - NI health trusts & #39;stopped from carrying out early abortions& #39; @BBCJayneMcC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52221872">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-n...
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& #39;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& #39;t get an abortion. We can& #39;t have more cases like this, we can& #39;t.
