PRO-LIFE campaigners have accused health chiefs of bringing back "backstreet abortions" as women in Scotland became the first in the UK to be allowed to take the abortion pill at home.

Scotland's Chief Medical Officer has written to all health boards to say the drug, misoprostol, can be taken by women outside of a clinical setting.

It coincides with the the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act today [Friday 27].

Misoprostol can already be prescribed to women with an incomplete miscarriage to take at home, but until now women seeking a termination faced tighter restrictions.

The change brings Scotland in line with other countries such as Sweden and France.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service has been lobbying to change the law in the UK for years.

Ann Furedi, chief executive of the BPAS, said: "This will spare women not only the difficulties associated with having to make more than one clinic visit - childcare, transport, time off work - but it will also spare women from the risk of symptoms on their way home, having taken the medication in a clinic."

A medical abortion treatment involves taking two pills - Mifepristone which blocks the hormone progesterone, which is needed to maintain the pregnancy, and then Misoprostol. The tablets can be given on the same day, or 24, 48 or 72 hours apart.

Within an hour of taking misoprostol women often experience heavy bleeding, which can be especially problematic for women in Scotland if they have to travel long distances back from a clinic - particularly in rural areas.

The news comes days after Professor Allan Templeton, of Aberdeen University, said the change would be "a huge step forward in the provision of service". He had been speaking at a conference at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London, before the move had been confirmed by the Scottish Government.

However, the decision was condemned last night by pro-life campaigners.

John Deighan, Chief Executive of the Society for the protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) Scotland said:

“This would mark mark a return to the days of back street abortions with no medical oversight and dreadful threats to women’s health.

“The reality is that this will have many vulnerable women who may be desperate about the situation they are in, pushed towards what is seen as the easy option of being handed some drugs and sent home to stop being a problem for society.”