Britain’s aid budget has funded a Mexican organisation which illegally sends abortion pills to the US.

The Foreign Office’s development budget has contributed to the work of abortion rights campaigners Las Libres for the last five years.

The group was set up to provide abortion services in Mexico but began posting abortion pills across the US border in 2022, after the Supreme Court abolished nationwide protections for reproductive rights.

The pills are hand delivered by a network of activists in the US and women who request the service are encouraged to use encrypted messaging apps and email providers to evade the authorities.

The medication can be used by women who are less than 11-weeks pregnant, but has been restricted or banned entirely in many Republican-controlled states.

Las Libres encourages women in states where abortions are illegal to order them by post, in breach of state rules.