Dr. Bela Ganatra:

From the perspective of the WHO, self-use is a safe option as an active extension of the health system when it is a choice women can make and where they have access to backup care services, if they want and should they need them. When they have to do this because of a lack of options or alternatives, it would not meet the criteria of what the WHO regards as safe. Although one can have a perfectly safe and medically safe abortion by travelling, it still does not reflect an active choice but a lack of safe options and alternatives. It creates inequalities because there are women who cannot afford to travel or who might be too advanced in the pregnancy to travel. It creates inequalities in terms of cost and, most importantly, delays. Although most Irish women who have abortions in the United Kingdom still have them early on, the statistics for the United Kingdom show that the level of abortions beyond 12 weeks is higher among non-residents and Irish women travelling to the United Kingdom than among local residents.