Emergency laws allowing women to have early medical abortions at home during the coronanvirus crisis could be extended.
A public consultation opened six months after the Scottish Government approved the use of both pills required to carry out the procedure, after a telephone or video consultation with a doctor.
The plan was put in place in March to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission in clinics and ensure access to abortion services without delays.
The arrangements will be kept in place until the virus is no longer a risk, but the government accepted there are a "range of strongly held views" to be heard before deciding what to do next.
Joe FitzPatrick, the Scottish Government public health minister, said: "All women in Scotland should have access to clinically safe abortion services, within the limits of the law, should they require this."
FitzPatrick continued: "The current arrangements were put in place to minimise the risk of transmission of Covid-19 and ensure continued access to abortion services, without delays, during this pandemic.
"This consultation allows will allow us to gather as much evidence as possible to help inform future arrangements."
The arrangement allows women to take both pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, in their own homes. The government wants to hear particularly from anyone who has direct experience of early medical abortions.
Most women in Scotland who have an abortion do so within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Until 2017, women had to attend a clinic for both pills. Between 2017 and March this year women could take one at home and another at a clinic.
The consultation, which does not affect the wider legal framework on abortion in Scotland, states: "The Scottish Government recognises that there are a range of strongly held views on this issue, with many people welcoming the current arrangements, but others raising concerns about the physical or mental health risks of not seeing women in person."
Michael Robinson, of campaign group he Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said the current rules are a "travesty" which should not have been introduced.
"Allowing women to take powerful drugs at home, alone, with no medical supervision shows a complete lack of care and respect for women, as well as further devaluing the value of human life in the womb," he said.
The consultation runs from September 30 to January 5 next year. Members of the public can access the consultation on the Scottish Government website.
