“PLEASE COMMENT WAYS TO HOME ABORT”: A TIK TOK TREND LIKE NO OTHER
How are covid restrictions contributing to home abortion ‘tips’ circulating online?
To the tune of ‘Say I Yi Yi’; a song more commonly associated with a twerk-based dance routine, user ‘tryingoutahomeabort’ places a packet of chamomile tea onto a pretty, paisley print bedspread. “I accidentally got pregnant so here’s me trying at home abortions.” she captions it. The tone is light hearted, almost comedic. There is a suburban, homely tint to the video. Perhaps it is the teenage bedsheet. Yet this subtly masks the worrying intent of the video. It is one of many, originating from teenage bedrooms, seeping through TikTok’s algorithm onto our ‘for you’ pages.
Covid restrictions has made abortion care more difficult. Global lockdowns have left thousands of women feeling unsupported and alone. Accessing a clinic can become mission impossible, with some young women turning to Tik Tok to learn how to home abort.
“That’s really worrying,” says Katherine O’Brien, the associate director of communications and campaigns for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPSA). She refers to the comments spreading misinformation beneath these videos. A recurrent ‘tip’ is that 800mg of ibuprofen causes miscarriage. “Ibuprofen can cause stomach ulcers, we wouldn't advise it,” Ms O’Brien adds. “These kinds of tips always go around when healthcare is not accessible.”
When the pandemic struck, parliament passed the Coronavirus Act allowing women to take abortion medication at home for the first time. At present time the measure is temporary lasting over a period of two years, with the BPAS stating it should remain permanently. During the first three months of lockdown, the BPAS distributed over 20,000 safe, abortive medication to homes across the UK via it’s ‘pills by post’ programme.
However Ms O’Brien warns that it is impossible “to be able to know the number of women turning to unlicensed medication. Covid 19 has made everything so normal to get things online.”
“If you can’t control what happens to your body, you are fundamentally cut off from society,” says Kerry Abel, chair of Abortion Rights. “it is (abortion) an old practise that should be safe and legal.” Covid restrictions means abortion risks being pushed underground. “Politicians prevent women’s access to clinics. You need an admission to a local hospital, you need an ultrasound and you have to wait for some time before making a decision,” says Ms Abel. The ‘pills by post’ programme removes these steps, making abortion care more accessible. However this is not the case for all women. For them, being in lockdown makes the prospect of an accessible abortion almost impossible.
“At the moment young people have been told to stay at home,” says Ms O’Brien. This means that for some young people it is incredibly difficult to get to their GP or to a Gum clinic. “They don’t want to make that phone call in their bedroom, when their parents are downstairs,” she adds. Covid 19 has made people- especially women- more vulnerable. An abusive relationship or home life can leave women trapped, unable to access any support or care surrounding reproductive rights. This risks an increase of home and backstreet abortions.
“I think the main issue we have with home abortions is the possibility of complications, in particular haemorrhaging which could be addressed quickly in a clinical setting,” says Mark Bhagwandin, an advocacy manager at Life Charity. For Mr Bhagwandin, abortion is not an option. “Every pregnancy involves an unborn child with a right to life” he says. “You also have to look at the situation women are in and then empower them to carry out the pregnancy. What you get then is a society that is compassionate and caring to women.” Life Charity aims to provide supportive alternatives to abortion. This includes a housing program for homeless mothers; the Gemma fund, which provides baby clothes and other necessities and thirty life centres which provide non-directive advice for pregnant women.
Mr Bhagwandin argues that the reason for home and backstreet abortions is as a result of poverty and a lack of education. “A lot of women have abortions because they cant afford to keep the baby. We have a welfare state which women should be taught about,” he argues. “We also need good sex and relationship advice. If we address these failures, we won’t have backstreet abortions.”
Kerry Abel disagrees. “When abortion was illegal, Friday and Saturday nights at A&E would be full of women who had had a backstreet abortion”. For Ms Abel, “keeping it legal is keeping it safe”.
Women who want to abort, will try, regardless of its accessibility or legal status. However by restricting access to abortion care and giving such videos a platform, abortion care, as Kerry Abel states, “is thrown to the sharks.”
“I don’t blame women for trying to share tips, it is something that has always happened.” says Ms O’Brien. Covid has made women vulnerable. Coronavirus has stripped them of necessary support systems and healthcare, pushing them toward unreliable, online sources. “Covid is definitely playing a role in these videos as people can’t get out and about.” Ms O’Brien concludes.
A repeating video, ‘‘Say Yi Yi’ plays on loop, the so-called abortive ‘camomile tea’ boomerangs on and off a childish bedsheet. Girls and women unable to access reproductive healthcare will try to abort. The process repeats. Right now, a woman is reaching for her packet of chamomile tea, alone in her bedroom, unable to access a safe and legal abortion.