Increasing access to medical abortion? Pharmacy professionals' perspectives on providing medical abortion medicines as a pharmacy medicine from UK community pharmacies

Gunnell, Karen

Abstract

Introduction: The Abortion Act 1967 outlines an exception to criminalization under the law, provided that pregnancy is terminated by the NHS or on a licensed premise by a registered medical practitioner up to 23 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy (Abortion Act, 1967).1 As such, provision of medical abortion is prohibited for pharmacists or “over the counter” as a Pharmacy (P) medicine. Medical abortion involves the use of two medications: mifepristone and misoprostol or one medication (solely misoprostol) with multiple doses.

Study aim: This study sought to understand the willingness of pharmacy professionals to sell medical abortion medication as a pharmacy medicine, as well as identifying any barriers or benefits to declassification.

Methods: A mixed method questionnaire using multiple choice and free text questions was completed by 14 participants, including community pharmacists and trainee and student pharmacists. This was a self-selected sample due to limited project time constraints. Ethics approval was obtained before data collection. Descriptive statistics were generated for quantitative and inductive thematic analysis was conducted on free text responses.

Results: Most participants (86%) would be willing to provide medical abortion from community pharmacies, however 43%, only under certain circumstances. These circumstances included abuse, rape, incest, or an inability to raise a child.

Participants believed that the benefits of provision from community pharmacy include increased accessibility and a reduction in stigma. Some participants were concerned with mis- and over-use by some patients. Barriers to supply included the beliefs of the pharmacist, cost and misinformation.

Conclusion: Very little research has been done on this area in the United Kingdom, and whilst this study was small, it opens a conversation into a potentially increased role for community pharmacists in the United Kingdom. Participants felt that it would increase access to medical abortion, echoed by research conducted in countries where pharmacies can provide this medication (Sneeringer et al., 2012).2 However, before this could occur a law change would be required (Abortion Act 1967),= and thus more research is needed in this area before this can go ahead.

REFERENCES
Abortion Act 1967, c. 87. Accessed May 12, 2023. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1967/87/contents
Sneeringer R, Billings D, Ganatra B, et al. Roles of pharmacists in expanding access to safe and effective medical abortion in developing countries: A review of the literature. J Public Health Pol. 2012;33:218–229. doi: 10.1057/jphp.2012.11

Citation

Gunnell, K. (2024, May). Increasing access to medical abortion? Pharmacy professionals' perspectives on providing medical abortion medicines as a pharmacy medicine from UK community pharmacies

• Start Date: May 17, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jul 22, 2024
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/878920
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pds.5859
• Additional Information: Accepted: 2024-06-10; Published: 2024-07-15