Wales is to allow women to take the abortion pill at home to avoid bleeding and pain in public.
The change in the rules will allow women to take the second abortion pill at home, announced Welsh Health Secretary Vaughan Gething.
Guidance will be issued to health boards in Wales today to allow misoprostol, the second medication needed in a medical termination, to be self-administered at home.
Mr Gething said: "This change in practice offers additional choice to women requesting an abortion and enables them to complete treatment in an environment where they feel most comfortable.
"It will also reduce the burden currently placed on clinical resources, increase the availability of appointments for women who want to access termination of pregnancy services and enable a greater number of women to access abortion provision at an earlier point in their pregnancy."
The abortion pill – which is two different medicines administered separately – can be taken at the same time, or with a gap of a few days in between.
Women meeting certain criteria will be required to attend a clinic for the administration of mifepristone, the first medication.
They will then have the option to be discharged home to self-administer the second medication, misoprostol. They still have the option to attend a clinic if they prefer.
The decision was made after listening to the views of clinicians and women's groups, the Welsh government said.
As part of their campaign, the Women's Equality Party wrote an open letter to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Mr Gething asking for the second pill to be available to be taken at home.
:: Campaign launched to allow women in England and Wales to take abortion pills at home
In the letter, Claudia Craig, 23, explains how she almost miscarried in a taxi on her journey home from the hospital because she had to present herself to doctors to take the pill.
"By law I had to take the pill at the hospital. I had no idea how quickly it would take effect. I was lucky I had enough money for a taxi – it was a 15-minute drive, but in those 15 minutes I turned pale green and could feel the process starting," she wrote.
When she got home she says she "collapsed almost as soon as I got inside" and began to vomit and miscarry on her bathroom floor.
On hearing the news of thechange in Wales, she told Sky News:"I'm over the moon that the women of Wales will no longer have to go through the horrible and completely unnecessary experience of travelling after an abortion and will now be able to access safe medical treatment at home. I am so pleased that Vaughan Gething has listened to women's experiences and expert opinion.
"However, women in England are still forced to make distressing and uncomfortable journeys for no good reason. The Department of Health and Social Care claims that it is 'monitoring the evidence' around home use but it seems to be ignoring research from the World Health Organization and the examples of several other countries that have introduced this simple change with no adverse effects.
"Far from monitoring the evidence, it feels as though Jeremy Hunt and the rest of the UK government are sticking their fingers in their ears. They have failed to take action to enforce women's basic human rights in Northern Ireland, and they are refusing to recognise that abortion is a medical procedure that should be administered safely and comfortably through home use of the abortion pill."
Clare Murphy, director of external affairs at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, also urged Mr Hunt to "move forward" with "this simple measure".
She said: "It is now time for the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to ensure women in England can access the same standard of care. There is no clinical reason to deny women the option of using this medication at home."
Diana Johnson, Labour MP for Hull North, who introduced a bill last year to decriminalise abortion up to 24 weeks in England and Wales, said: "Allowing the home use of misoprostol will ensure that medical abortions are carried out with the maximum dignity for a woman. I have heard dreadful stories of women who are currently required to visit a clinic twice and have miscarried on public transport or in public toilets on the way home.
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"Scotland has led the way on this and Wales is now recognising this is both clinically the right thing to do and in the interest of women. It's now time for England to put women's healthcare needs at the heart of abortion provision."
In October 2017, Scotland became the first place in the UK where women could take the abortion pill at home. Women in England are currently unable to do so.
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