Dept of Health considers issue of British abortion pills

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which carries out a quarter of all abortions in the UK, is considering proposals that would allow women to bring home an abortion pill and take it without medical supervision.

This would enable the 7,000 women who travel to Britain each year for abortions to bring the pills back to Ireland and terminate their pregnancy here.

Abortion, like procuring a miscarriage, is forbidden under our constitution unless there is a substantial risk to the life of the mother.

The Department of Health has said that it will take legal advice if it emerges that women are using the pills in this country, but a spokesman for Micheál Martin say the issue will be whether the abortion legally takes place here or in Britain.

Pro Life campaigners claim the pills make abortion easier and more accessible and that it raises issues of safety.