MPs have voted to allow women in England to continue to access abortion care at home after it was introduced during the pandemic.

The House of Commons voted 215 to 188, a majority of 27, in favour of the amendment put forward by the House of Lords earlier this month.

Before the pandemic, women were required to attend a clinic in-person to access abortion pills, but during the first lockdown in March 2020 women have been able to receive the pills by post following a phone or video consultation.

The government had intended to withdraw the service in England from August, but the Lords voted in favour of keeping it as it examined the Health and Care Bill.

Royal Assent is expected before the end of the current parliamentary session in May.

Labour MP Jess Phillips told MPs of her own experience of having an abortion after getting pregnant soon after her son was born, and said at-home services would allow women to take the medicine at an earlier point if they did not have to wait for an appointment.

“One thing I would say about when I had an abortion is that the worst process of having an abortion is the waiting,” she told MPs.

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“I had made the decision of what I was going to do with my body. I had made it the second I saw that I was pregnant on a pregnancy test, because I am an adult woman, completely capable of handling my own body and knowing my own mind. That is how we should treat every woman in this country.”

Ms Phillips said she had to wait eight weeks after deciding she wanted an abortion, but added it was “some time ago”, before even the contraceptive pill was widely available.

“I had made that decision and I didn’t feel sad about it, I didn’t feel bad about it. I made the decision on behalf of my son, who had just been born. Actually, I don’t even need an excuse, I didn’t want to have a baby having just had one and it is perfectly within my gift to make that decision.”

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