Anti-abortion activists have lost a legal bid to prevent women from terminating their pregnancies at home.

Scotland became the first part of the UK to let women take the drug misoprostol outside of a clinic last year.

However, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) argued the decision contravened the Abortion Act.

It also claimed allowing women to take abortion drugs at home would put their health at risk.

The SPUC's legal challenge was dismissed on Wednesday by judge Lady Wise, who said the Scottish Government's decision would not endanger women.

She concluded: "As a generality, it seems to me that patients who self-administer medication at home may still be described as being treated by their medical practitioner who remains in charge of that treatment."

The SPUC has said it will appeal her decision.

The treatment approved last October by Scotland's chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood involves taking a combination of two drugs.

The first drug, mifepristone, is taken at a clinic but the second, misoprostol, can be taken at home up to three days later.