But until 2020, politicians had resisted calls to introduce telemedicine for abortion. Instead, patients had to take the first pill, mifepristone, on medical premises before travelling home and taking the second type of medication, misoprostol, 24-48 hours later.

The pandemic made it dangerous for women and pregnant people to journey to and from busy abortion clinics – yet the government dithered. On the day that Boris Johnson announced the start of the first lockdown, the Department of Health and Social Care released guidance stating that early abortions should be allowed at home during the coronavirus outbreak. It then retracted this advice almost immediately, saying it had been published in error.

“It was very confusing and disappointing,” recalls Dr Corrina Horan, a member of Doctors for Choice UK, a group of clinicians that campaigns for reproductive justice. “It was becoming clearer and clearer that travel and going to doctor’s appointments would carry a risk of catching Covid… It was obvious that anything that made accessing any type of healthcare more convenient would be a good thing.”

How you can help improve abortion access in England after the pandemic