A “faceless” service which will allow morning-after pills to be delivered by courier has been criticised by a family campaigner.
The service, which has been dubbed ‘pill by bike’, will be available for people in London from next week at a cost of £20. The morning-after pill can cause an early stage abortion.
Norman Wells, from the Family Education Trust, warned there was a “danger the service could be used by the abusers of underage girls”.
False
The service requires users to complete an online form, which includes them confirming they are 18 or over. It is then checked by a doctor and the morning-after pill can be delivered in as little as two hours.
But Norman Wells said: “The faceless nature of the service makes it all too easy for them to register on the site giving a false name and medical history and then to order the morning-after pill on behalf of their victim in an attempt to conceal their crime.”
Mr Wells also pointed to research which showed that making the morning-after pill “more readily available has not succeeded in reducing unintended pregnancy and abortion rates”.
Defend
The co-founder of the website behind the new service, Amit Khutti, defended it saying there were barriers in place to stop young people getting hold of the drug.
He also added: “It will arrive at the office in discreet packaging so women won’t be embarrassed.
“Socially, some people are still put off by having to answer questions face to face about why they need emergency contraception.”
Little impact
Last year a BBC documentary revealed offering free morning-after pills in Wales had had little impact on teenage pregnancy.
Research into a pilot scheme in Bridgend showed despite increased uptake “the trend in conceptions for Bridgend was not significantly different to the rest of Wales”.
