Abortion pills still being ordered online despite services becoming legal

Abortion tablets are still being ordered into this country, a month after abortion services became publicly available.

Although terminations are now being provided to women through the HSE, a number of the tablets were confiscated coming into Ireland in January. The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) says it seized nine of the tablets in January, reports the Irish Independent. The tablets, which cause a medical abortion, are easily available to buy online from international websites. They are considered dangerous to use without a doctor's supervision. This news comes as the HSE has vowed to investigate after the details of a woman who sought a termination were allegedly leaked. It's claimed that the she had an abortion in a Dublin maternity hospital this year and was later contacted by someone linked to a fake HSE website. The woman allegedly had a scan after her termination and was told that she wouldn't need a further one and sent home from hospital. According to a viral tweet, the woman later received a phone call from an unknown number and was told to rebook a scan. The woman became suspicious and contacted the hospital. She was told that they didn't know anything about the phone call. She then called the number back and was allegedly verbally abused. The man is said to have called her 'disgusting' for having an abortion if she knew the risks involved. Health minster Simon Harris said that the news was "concerning". "The idea that anybody might leak a woman’s confidential information is reprehensible, it is grotesque, it’s disgusting and that is why I asked the HSE yesterday to investigate the matter and report back."