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Abortion Support Network has been helping people to access safe abortions since 2009. We have helped more than 10,000 people with information on how to book appointments, and we have helped more than 2775 people to cover the costs.  

Why are people still travelling for abortions?  

The top three countries we hear from are Ireland, Poland and France – though we hear from people all over Europe and last year we heard from people in 31 countries.

There are many barriers to access in European abortion law, including near-total bans such as the one in Poland. The limit in Ireland is 12 weeks’ gestation, and in France 14 – and beyond these limits in certain circumstances. However, many people don’t find out they are pregnant until beyond or close to the limit.

In many places there is a mandatory, medically unnecessary 3-day waiting period between officially being told you are pregnant and having an abortion. We have been contacted by many people over the last 5 years who were within 3 days of the legal limit, meaning they were prevented from accessing care due to the medically unnecessary 3-day wait.  

It is also fairly common for people to be pushed over the limit by patchy abortion provision: a lack of available appointments, delays waiting for scans, or conscientious objection from medical providers.  

Many people are delayed from accessing care by rogue ‘crisis pregnancy centres’, who aim to divert people from accessing abortions by scaremongering and sharing misinformation about abortion. 

Abortion is available beyond ‘legal limits’ in some cases of fatal foetal anomaly. In these cases, it is usually the case that 2 doctors must ‘approve’ the abortion – for example, in Ireland, doctors must certify that continuing a pregnancy is likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within 28 days of birth. These strict rules mean that many people with wanted pregnancies – including IVF pregnancies – are forced to travel to England to terminate when they receive a diagnosis that is serious, or fatal – but “not fatal enough” to meet the criteria.  

If you’re in Europe and you need an abortion, we can help 

If you find yourself unable to access an abortion, Abortion Support Network can help with: 

• Booking an appointment at a clinic overseas 
• Information about the least expensive way to arrange your travel and procedure 
• Help finding accommodation 
• Funding 

About the help we offer

We never ask people how they got pregnant or why they want an abortion. We provide non-judgmental information, and we are here to lessen the financial burden of travelling abroad to get a safe abortion. It is extremely common for people in Ireland to contact us for support. We hear from someone in Ireland who needs help getting an abortion every other day.  Our clients are ordinary people with ordinary stories, and lots of people say to us “I never thought I’d be in this position”.  

How you can help  

Travelling and paying privately for an abortion in England can be very expensive, with costs ranging from £300-£3,000+.  It is nobody’s fault if they can’t afford these costs. The fault lies with governments for allowing individuals and small charities to foot the bill for abortion care instead of providing care at home. While these laws are in place, we will do what we can to ease the financial burden on ordinary people who are facing these costs alone.  

ASN is a small charity, and we rely on donations from individual people to support our clients. If you can donate, financial support of any amount, in any currency, will be gratefully received.