Under this instruction women cannot exercise their reproductive rights in hotels, the homes of family members or friends, or refuges. There is no medical, logistical, or financial justification for narrowing the criteria women must meet in order to access telemedical abortions. The fact that this is one of the first actions of a government with a disturbing number of anti-choice ministers, paints a bleak picture of where we may be headed. After all, deeds speak louder than words.

A moment like this should trigger alarm bells, because it signals that the quiet, insidious unravelling of our rights is well underway. And worse still, the explanation offered by the government for this new instruction is to ensure full compliance with the 1967 Abortion Act, a clear cut example of why that law is an inadequate mechanism to ensure the delivery of women’s healthcare.

Mandu Reid: “In the UK, the quiet, insidious unravelling of our reproductive rights is well underway”