In March 2020, just before the national lockdown began, a notice appeared on the government website seeming to allow women to conduct their own medical abortions at home. Outcry followed and the notice was removed, the government website claiming that it was ‘published in error’. Website visitors were reassured that there would ‘be no changes to abortion regulations’. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care assured the House of Commons, ‘There are no proposals to change the abortion rules due to Covid-19.’ However, now 3 months later the government said, ‘DIY abortions could be a permanent fixture in the UK’. The media reported that up to 90,000 women have used the DIY service since it was introduced in March. The government will release official statistics next week. If 90,000 abortions took place it would make DIY abortion the biggest silent killer of lockdown, more than twice as many fatalities as Covid-19. See also