Now with more than eight states that have banned abortion after the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday, patients are turning to abortion pills provided by organizations such as Just the Pill.
Within hours of the Supreme Court’s decision, at least eight states have banned all types of abortion, including medication abortion(abortion pills).
Abortion pills have already been used in more than half the recent abortions in the U.S. and will most likely be the center for legal battles that are predicted to come as half the states ban abortion while the other half act to expand access.
The pill is used in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, and is required to take two different drugs, 24 to 48 hours apart, to stop the growth of a pregnancy. It then proceeds to cause contractions alike a miscarriage to remove the fetus, a process that usually causes bleeding.
Medical abortion is relatively less expensive, which is why many patients choose it instead of surgical abortions.
It also allows more privacy as the pills can be taken at home, or wherever, after an initial consultation with a doctor by phone, video, or even just by completing an online form. But, it is vital for the patient to participate in the consultation from a state that allows abortion.
Just the Pill, a nonprofit organization, has already received nearly 100 requests for appointments in the hours the Supreme Court released its decision overturning the legal right to abortion in the United States.
Having supplied more than 2,500 telemedicine consultations with doctors to provide abortion pills by mail to patients in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Minnesota since October 2020, Just the Pill is planning to deploy in Colorado the first of many “fleet of mobile clinics” to park along state borders, providing consultations for medication abortions and dispensing pills.
The clinic-on-wheels program, called “Abortion Delivered”, will also provide surgical abortions for patients who prefer it or are too far along the pregnancy for a medication abortion.
The program is intended for patients from nearby states like Texas, Oklahoma and South Dakota that have already vetoed abortion after the court decision, as well as other states like Utah that will soon ban or sharply restrict abortion.
“By operating on state borders, we will reduce travel burdens for patients in states with bans or severe limits,” Dr. Julie Amaon, the organization’s medical director said. “And by moving beyond a traditional brick-and-mortar clinic, our mobile clinics can quickly adapt to the courts, state legislatures, and the markets, going wherever the need is.”
President Biden, the DOJ and the Health and Human Services Department specified on Friday that they will take the initiative to expand access to the pill within the U.S., although it is not clear on how they will do it.
19 states have already had laws prohibiting using telemedicine for abortion, Texas recently enacted a law barring mailing abortion pills.
“Health-care providers who perform abortions, and in some cases people who help patients get the procedure, would face criminal prosecutions and yearslong prison sentences,” said Spencer Kimball , a reporter for CNBC News.
For example, anyone who performs an abortion in Missouri faces up to 15 years in prison. However, the prosecution of women who receive abortions is forbidden by the states.
Groups and some state governments that support abortion rights are mobilizing to help patients acquire the pills in states where they are legal.
Years of data from major medical groups show that medication abortion is safe.
A research program that the F.D.A. allowed to supply telemedicine consultations and send pills by mail revealed that 95 percent pf the 1,157 abortions that occurred through the program between May 2016 and September 2020 were finished without the need of any follow up procedure.
The study reported 70 visits to emergency rooms or urgent care centers patients made with 10 occasions of serious complications.
Sources:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1656283369075x492197126305831100/Abortion%20Pills%20Take%20the%20Spotlight%20as%20States%20Impose%20Abortion%20Bans%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/27/women-in-states-that-ban-abortion-will-still-be-able-to-get-abortion-pills-online-from-overseas.html
Within hours of the Supreme Court’s decision, at least eight states have banned all types of abortion, including medication abortion(abortion pills).
Abortion pills have already been used in more than half the recent abortions in the U.S. and will most likely be the center for legal battles that are predicted to come as half the states ban abortion while the other half act to expand access.
The pill is used in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, and is required to take two different drugs, 24 to 48 hours apart, to stop the growth of a pregnancy. It then proceeds to cause contractions alike a miscarriage to remove the fetus, a process that usually causes bleeding.
Medical abortion is relatively less expensive, which is why many patients choose it instead of surgical abortions.
It also allows more privacy as the pills can be taken at home, or wherever, after an initial consultation with a doctor by phone, video, or even just by completing an online form. But, it is vital for the patient to participate in the consultation from a state that allows abortion.
Just the Pill, a nonprofit organization, has already received nearly 100 requests for appointments in the hours the Supreme Court released its decision overturning the legal right to abortion in the United States.
Having supplied more than 2,500 telemedicine consultations with doctors to provide abortion pills by mail to patients in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Minnesota since October 2020, Just the Pill is planning to deploy in Colorado the first of many “fleet of mobile clinics” to park along state borders, providing consultations for medication abortions and dispensing pills.
The clinic-on-wheels program, called “Abortion Delivered”, will also provide surgical abortions for patients who prefer it or are too far along the pregnancy for a medication abortion.
The program is intended for patients from nearby states like Texas, Oklahoma and South Dakota that have already vetoed abortion after the court decision, as well as other states like Utah that will soon ban or sharply restrict abortion.
“By operating on state borders, we will reduce travel burdens for patients in states with bans or severe limits,” Dr. Julie Amaon, the organization’s medical director said. “And by moving beyond a traditional brick-and-mortar clinic, our mobile clinics can quickly adapt to the courts, state legislatures, and the markets, going wherever the need is.”
President Biden, the DOJ and the Health and Human Services Department specified on Friday that they will take the initiative to expand access to the pill within the U.S., although it is not clear on how they will do it.
19 states have already had laws prohibiting using telemedicine for abortion, Texas recently enacted a law barring mailing abortion pills.
“Health-care providers who perform abortions, and in some cases people who help patients get the procedure, would face criminal prosecutions and yearslong prison sentences,” said Spencer Kimball , a reporter for CNBC News.
For example, anyone who performs an abortion in Missouri faces up to 15 years in prison. However, the prosecution of women who receive abortions is forbidden by the states.
Groups and some state governments that support abortion rights are mobilizing to help patients acquire the pills in states where they are legal.
Years of data from major medical groups show that medication abortion is safe.
A research program that the F.D.A. allowed to supply telemedicine consultations and send pills by mail revealed that 95 percent pf the 1,157 abortions that occurred through the program between May 2016 and September 2020 were finished without the need of any follow up procedure.
The study reported 70 visits to emergency rooms or urgent care centers patients made with 10 occasions of serious complications.
Sources:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1656283369075x492197126305831100/Abortion%20Pills%20Take%20the%20Spotlight%20as%20States%20Impose%20Abortion%20Bans%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/27/women-in-states-that-ban-abortion-will-still-be-able-to-get-abortion-pills-online-from-overseas.html
