In the lead up to the Irish abortion referendum next month, much has rightly been made about the plight of women who are forced to travel to the UK for healthcare as a result of their country’s archaic abortion law.

But an equally pressing issue is the growing number of women who chose a different option – to access the abortion pills online, and take them secretly at home. In a press conference for Together for Yes (the coalition to repeal the eighth amendment) yesterday, campaigner Ailbhe Smyth and others outlined the need to regulate these pills, revealing the country has seen a staggering 190% increase in their usage in the last year alone.

There is nothing inherently dangerous about taking misoprostol, the abortion drug, at home. Indeed, in a move that was welcomed by pro-choice campaigners, Scotland became the first part of the UK to allow women to take the pills in the privacy of their own home last year. But in a country where abortion is illegal, women are often forced to access drugs from unknown online suppliers, meaning they cannot be 100% sure they are even getting the correct drug or dose. Obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Aoife Mullally said of the current drugs available online, “The medication may not contain what the woman thinks it does,” and “women often take the medication in significantly higher doses than they should because they are so desperate for it to work”.

The sales of online abortion pills have risen rapidly. Here’s why