The Court of Session in Scotland has dismissed a challenge to women taking the abortion pill at home.
Last year, Scotland became the first jurisdiction in the United Kingdom to allow abortion pills to be taken at home. Previously, a woman was issued the pills with the consent of two doctors and had to take them inside a hospital or licensed clinic. Under the new laws, women are allowed to collect the pills and return home before taking them.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) challenged the new policy in Scotland’s highest court arguing contravention of the Abortion Act 1967. SPUC claimed that the home was not a “class of place” permitted under the legislation and that approval of the home as such was contrary to the legal requirement that a termination be carried out by a “registered medical practitioner”. SPUC was also of the view that the home did not satisfy the condition that an abortion be carried out in a safe and hygienic place.
The Court found that patients who self-administer medication at home may still be described as being treated by their medical practitioner, who remains in charge of that treatment. The Court stated that a woman is in a position to determine herself whether her home is a suitable and secure place in which to administer the pill. It was further held that while the home would not have the same standards of hygiene as a hospital, it was still a place in which medicine could be taken by patients. The Court concluded that the respondent’s approval of the home as a place in which a termination could be carried out was not unlawful.
Please click here for the full case in SPUC v Scottish Ministers.