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To: Oireachtas Members – Laois-Offaly Constituency
Dear Oireachtas Member,
In March 2022, the HSE acknowledged that remote consultation ‘home abortions’ increase the chances of women being coerced into having an abortion. They recognised that “meeting the woman in person increases the likelihood of the provider identifying any coercion or domestic abuse.”
In addition, shocking new findings from a recent Savanta ComRes poll for BBC Radio 4, revealed that 15% of women in the UK (aged 18-44) have experienced pressure to go through with an abortion they didn’t want to have.
As we know, telemedicine ‘home abortion’ means there is no face-to-face consultation between the woman and a medical doctor prior to the abortion. The Government promised this would be a temporary Covid-19 measure.
Minister Donnelly recently indicated he is considering a ‘blended approach’ and is reviewing the ‘Revised Model of Care’ to consider a permanent adoption of telemedicine. This is a truly reckless course as a ‘blended approach’ would be unable to identify the women most at risk to being coerced or pressured into having an abortion.
Removing the obligation to have a face-to-face consultation with a doctor means dispensing abortion pills without first checking for any underlying medical condition the woman may have that the doctor should be aware of before administering the pills or accurately assessing the gestational stage of her pregnancy.
I call on you to ask the Minister for Health to bring to an immediate end to permitting remote consultation ‘home abortions’.
I would also appreciate a reply to this email and your thoughts on the matter.
Yours sincerely,
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