There have been calls to end the 'pills by post' at-home abortion service after a man was jailed for using abortion pills acquired through the scheme to end a woman's pregnancy without her knowledge. 

Stuart Worby was sentenced to 12 years in prison last week after sexually assaulting the woman and then secretly giving her crushed up abortion pills in orange juice which resulted in her unborn baby dying at 15 weeks' gestation.

Worby procured the pills by asking a friend to pose as a woman wanting abortion pills from a clinic in London to use in an at-home abortion. 

Right to Life UK has called for a full inquiry into the clinic that supplied the pills and for the immediate cessation of the pills by post scheme. 

Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said, "Had at-home abortions not been introduced, Stuart Worby would not have been able to obtain these pills from this abortion provider, and this tragic case would not have happened."

Earlier this year, over 800 medical professionals wrote to MPs calling for an end to the pills by post service and warning of the risks of late-term abortions being performed at home without in-person medical consultation. 

A 2023 government review found that complication rates for abortions at 20 weeks or beyond were over 160 times higher than for abortions performed at earlier stages.

This is the second high profile case involving the pills by post service after Carla Foster was prosecuted last year after admitting that she had lied about her gestational age to procure abortion pills that led to the abortion of her unborn baby at between 32 and 34 weeks.