ArticleHealth policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands)2021
2020 developments in the provision of early medical abortion by telemedicine in the UK.
Article in Health policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mystery Client Methodologies to Evaluate Abortion Care and Access: A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Preference for Face-to-Face Contraceptive Service Delivery Post-COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025Article
- Should we Relax Abortion Reporting Requirements in Great Britain?Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2025Article
- [Innovation in abortion care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, France and Great Britain : Paths to maintaining access and building system resilience].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2025Review
- Medication abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic in France: A research based on the French national health insurance database.PloS one · 2024Article
- Early telemedical abortion, safeguarding, and under 18s: a qualitative study with care providers in England and Wales.BMJ sexual & reproductive health · 2023Article
- Improvidence, Precaution, and the Logical-Empirical Disconnect in UK Health Policy.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2023Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergency measures on abortion care taken during this period in a French region (Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur).Journal of gynecology obstetrics and human reproduction · 2022Article
- COVID-19 health policy evaluation: integrating health and economic perspectives with a data envelopment analysis approach.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2022Article
- The Case for Telemedical Early Medical Abortion in England: Dispelling Adult Safeguarding Concerns.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2022Article
- Obstacles and opportunities: a qualitative study of the experiences of abortion centre staff with abortion care during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Flanders, Belgium.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2021Article
- Safeguarding and teleconsultation for abortion.Lancet (London, England) · 2021Review
- The impact of COVID-19 on abortion access: Insights from the European Union and the United Kingdom.Health policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2021Review
- Easing of Regulatory Barriers to Telemedicine Abortion in Response to COVID-19.Frontiers in global women's health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the rapid implementation of telemedical health services. In the United Kingdom, one service that has benefitted from this response is the provision of early medical abortion. England, Wales, and Scotland have all issued approval orders to this effect. These orders allow women to terminate pregnancies up to certain gestational limits, removing the need for them to contravene social distancing measures to access care. However, they are intended only as temporary measures for the duration of the pandemic response. In this paper, we chart these developments and further demonstrate the already acknowledged politicisation of abortion care. We focus on two key elements of the orders: (1) the addition of updated clinical guidance in the Scottish order that suggests an extended gestational limit, and (2) sunset clauses in the English and Welsh orders, as well as an indication of similar intentions in Scotland. In discussing these two issues, we suggest that the refusal of UK governments to introduce telemedical provision of early medical abortion previously has not been based on health concerns. Further, we question whether it would be appropriate for the approval orders to be lifted following the pandemic, suggesting that to do so would represent regressive and harmful policy.
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