- What is Abortion Support Network (ASN)?
- Who does ASN help?
- What services does ASN offer?
- What are the costs for women travelling to England for an abortion?
- Who are ASN hosts, and what do they offer women travelling to London for an abortion?
- Can women bring a friend/partner or child with them?
- How does ASN provide grants to help pay for abortion procedures?
- Is early medical abortion (abortion with pills) safe?
- How can I get more information about accessing a medical abortion at home?
- How can I support ASN?
- How can I volunteer for ASN?
- Is ASN involved in campaigning for abortion law reform?
- What is the law on abortion in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland?
- How many women travel to England from Ireland for abortions?
1. What is Abortion Support Network (ASN)?
Abortion Support Network is an all-volunteer organisation that provides accommodation, financial assistance and confidential, non-judgemental information to women forced to travel to have a safe and legal abortion.
2. Who does ASN help?
Abortion Support Network helps women who travel to England to access a safe and legal abortion. We provide financial assistance and accommodation to women travelling from the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man (where there is no abortion provision) and women in the Channel Islands. These women have to pay to travel to England, often pay to stay overnight, and must have an abortion as a private patient. ASN also provides confidential, non-judgemental information to any woman who contacts us via phone or email who is seeking information about travelling to England for an abortion.
3. What services does ASN offer?
Financial assistance
ASN provides financial assistance to women travelling to England for an abortion to help towards the cost of their abortion. Funding is available on a case by case basis, depending on financial need and availability of funds.
Accommodation and hosting
While most women travelling for an abortion can and prefer to complete their journey in one day, ASN provides accommodation in the homes of our volunteer hosts to women who need or want to stay overnight when travelling for an abortion. Currently hosting is available in London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. For further information about what ASN hosts offer to women, see Q5.
Information
As well as accommodation and financial assistance, ASN offers women confidential, non-judgemental information about organisations that provide abortion services in England, and other practical information and support.
4. What are the costs for women travelling to England for an abortion?
Women travelling from Ireland to England for abortions must typically pay anywhere between £400 and £2,000, and sometimes more. They must pay privately for the procedure, the cost of which depends on clinic prices and stage of pregnancy. They also have to pay for their travel, which often includes last minute air or ferry fares and travel to and from the airport and their homes and from the airport and the clinics, and sometimes the travel costs of a friend, partner or family member accompanying them. Other costs are often incurred, such as accommodation, childcare and time off work.
5. Who are ASN hosts, and what do they offer women travelling to London for an abortion?
ASN hosts are unpaid volunteers who are able to provide a place for women to sleep in their homes – this could be a spare bed, spare room, sofa or airbed. Hosts pick women up either at a London, Birmingham, Liverpool or Manchester clinic, or in the case of women coming the night before their abortion, at an arranged meeting point. Hosts are responsible for paying the costs of local transport (often via tube or bus) and for providing meals while the women are with them. Hosts are women and can be living in owned or rented accommodation, alone, with a partner or with housemates or pets (these details about hosts are available to clients before they stay with them).
All Abortion Support Network volunteers are carefully interviewed, screened and trained, and believe in a woman’s right to choose whether to have an abortion. While hosts have access to some information about abortion and organisations offering abortion-related services, they are not medically trained, nor are they counsellors. The volunteers answering the ASN phone and email, however, can provide information about how to access information and services of this kind.
6. Can women bring a friend/partner or child with them?
Most of our hosts are able to accommodate a friend or partner, as women can be accompanied to the clinic by an adult when having the procedure. Hosts, however, cannot accommodate children, and clinics do not allow women to bring children with them when having their procedure.
7. How does ASN provide grants to help pay for abortion procedures?
ASN arranges to pay the grant towards the cost of the procedure directly to the clinic providing the procedure. We do not give money directly to women. Hosts will pay for a woman’s local travel costs once she arrives at the relevant city, and provide meals, but do not give women money.
8. Is early medical abortion (abortion with pills) safe?
Medical abortion (the abortion pill) is a very well researched and recommended method, approved by the World Health Organisation and other reputable agencies. It is very safe and in early pregnancy up until the 9th week, can be safely taken at home when women have reliable information. The safest, most effective type of medical abortion requires the use of two different drugs/ pills. These medicines are called Mifeprisone (also known as Mifepristone or RU486) and Misoprostol. Mifepristone and misoprostol, if used correctly, are safe and effective 98% of the time when used in the first 9 weeks of pregnancy. The instructions for using them are very easy, and there is a very low risk of complication, the same as for a natural miscarriage. If there is a complication, they can easily be treated by a doctor. Out of every 100 women that do medical abortions, 2 or 3 women have to go to a doctor, first aid center, or hospital to receive further medical care.
9. How can I get more information about accessing a medical abortion at home?
Women on Web (WoW) can provide you with more information about early medical abortion. WoW is a reputable online non-profit organisation that helps women in countries where abortion is illegal to safely access and use medicines for medical abortion. WoW may be able to help you to access abortion medicines following an online consultation with a doctor.
10. How can I support ASN?
There are many ways to support ASN. You can:
• Donate money to ASN
• Fundraise for ASN
• Sign up to our regular eBulletins (see “Join our Mailing List” at the bottom of the page), join our Abortion Support Network Facebook group, or follow us on Twitter
• Attend our events -such as our regular pro-choice happy hours in London. Find out about these by signing up to our newsletter (see “Join our Mailing List” at the bottom of the page).
• Volunteer
Abortion Support Network is run by unpaid volunteers and our only overheads are our phone bill, website registration and other small administrative costs. Unless specified for these costs, all money donated will go directly towards helping a woman cover the cost of her abortion or her travel to access an abortion. We accept standing orders, bank transfers and donations using PayPal.
11. How can I volunteer for ASN?
Please see our page on Volunteering.
12. Is ASN involved in campaigning for abortion law reform?
No. ASN is not a campaigning or lobbying organisation. While other organisations campaign for law reform, our work is to provide immediate, practical support to women who are unable to access safe, legal abortion in their own countries. We believe that the laws in these countries should change, so that women don’t have to seek help from our organisation.
13. What is the law on abortion in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland?
In both Northern Ireland (despite being part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland, abortion is illegal in almost all circumstances and it is virtually impossible for women to access an abortion legally. In both countries, however, women can legally travel abroad for an abortion and information can be provided about accessing abortions abroad (under certain conditions).
Further information about the law on abortion in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is available here:
In the Isle of Man there is no provision of abortion, and in the Channel Islands provision is more limited than in Britain.
14. How many women travel to England for abortions?
Every year thousands of women travel from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to England for abortions. According to data from the Department of Health, in 2010, 5,503 abortions were performed in England and Wales (the vast majority in England) on women resident in Ireland: 4,402 for women resident in the Republic of Ireland, and 1,101 for women resident in Northern Ireland. In total, since 1968 over 200,000 abortions are estimated to have been performed in England and Wales on women travelling from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (Rossiter, 2009). The actual numbers are likely to be higher, with some women giving a false British address.
In addition, women travel to England from other countries for abortions. In 2010, 128 abortions were performed for women resident in the Isle of Man, 9 for women from Guernsey, and 9 for women from Jersey. 395 abortions were performed for women resident in European countries (excluding the Republic of Ireland) and 237 abortions were performed for women resident in countries elsewhere in the world.
