Pro-life group taking legal action over DIY abortions in Scotland

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) Scotland has indicated it will be taking legal action against the Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer over the Scottish Governments plan to allow women to take abortion pills at home.

Representatives for SPUC Scotland wrote a letter to Dr Catherine Calderwood before Christmas warning of legal action should there be no reversal of the decision to allow women to take the abortion pill, misoprostol outside a clinical setting.  

Recent Scottish policy “unlawful”

In the letter SPUC asserted that the decision was “unlawful” and, if put into action, would be “endangering the lives of women.” The Society’s lawyers highlighted that the “taking of Misoprostol at home without the presence of a medical practitioner or other member of clinical staff is not consistent with Section 1 of the Abortion Act 1967.”

Announcing that SPUC Scotland will act on their warning, John Deighan, CEO of SPUC Scotland said:

“The Scottish Government has made its decision to continue with this policy. We believe this is an unlawful position. They have refused to engage in discussion on the matter despite the detailed concerns we raised with them. Therefore, we have been left with no option but to proceed to challenge it through the courts.”

Legal abortion not about increasing health and safety

Pro-abortion campaigners have consistently claimed that abortion must be legal to protect women from pursuing dangerous abortions outside of a clinical environment. Pro-abortion activists insist that a fundamental benefit of legalising abortion was the end of backstreet abortions. Whether the UK Abortion Act 1967 or the 1973 US decision of Roe vs Wade, the claim is made that these effectively brought an end to DIY abortions that could kill not only the infant, but also the mother. And yet ironically, the ability to freely carry out a ‘DIY’ abortion is increasingly viewed as a part of women’s ‘reproductive rights’.

DIY abortions are on the rise. We reported last year on pro-abortion lobbyists’ defence of DIY abortions as well as – in at least one case – advice given on how to perform a DIY abortion including where to source the necessary drugs. The details of the Scottish Government’s decision as well as ongoing campaigns in favour of allowing DIY abortions reveal that pro-abortion lobbyists are not really concerned about women’s health and safety. On the contrary, pro-abortion lobbyists simply desire abortion on demand for any reason up to birth, by any means, without legal consequence.

SPUC Scotland’s John Deighan voiced similar concerns saying:

“The abortion pill has been greatly pushed by the government as if it were some sanitised and easy way of ending a pregnancy. It is far from that. The move to trivialise abortion is one that harms women and creates an environment where some women are even urged to have an abortion because it does not suit others”

SPUC’s legal case, due to be prepared by 25 January, will provide a much-needed challenge to the Scottish Government’s recent trivialisation of abortion and its dangers.

What you can do

Thank God for SPUC Scotland’s proactive perseverance in representing pre-born children’s right to life. 

Please pray for the success of SPUC Scotland’s legal challenge.

Please pray that the Scottish Government will reverse its decision to allow women to take abortion pills at home.

Please pray that the British pro-abortion lobbies’ destructive, subversive, and exploitative agendas will be revealed for the evil they are and that there will be a seismic cultural shift that celebrates and honours life from conception.

If you are in Scotland, please write the Chief Medical Officer, Catherine Calderwood and challenge the decision to allow women to take abortion pills at home.