United States: A recent study reveals that thousands of women living in jurisdictions that forbid or restrict abortion are getting abortion pills via the mail from states where prescribers are protected by law.
Thousands Seek Abortion Pills via Mail
The #WeCount survey, which was released on Tuesday, reveals that by the end of 2023, approximately 8,000 women per month in states that severely restrict abortion or place restrictions on having one through telehealth will be receiving the pills by mail. This is the first time a figure for the frequency of use of the medical system workaround has been provided. The Society of Family Planning, which advocates for abortion rights, commissioned the research.
According to the study, an additional 8,000 women in jurisdictions where telemedicine abortion is not prohibited or severely restricted were getting their monthly medication through virtual consultations.
Over 90,000 Monthly Abortions Recorded in 2023
Overall, more than 90,000 monthly surgical or medication abortions provided by healthcare practitioners were recorded in 2023 according to the survey, up from the previous year. It was discovered recently by another survey that over two thirds of people consume medications.
By December 2023, the study discovered, doctors in states with safeguards were writing prescriptions for tablets to around 6,000 women each month in places where abortion was illegal at any point during pregnancy or as soon as cardiac activity was seen, which is typically around six weeks before a woman even realizes she is pregnant. In areas where local regulations restrict the amount of abortion pill prescriptions issued by telemedicine, the prescriptions were also being filled for roughly 2,000 women each month.
Telemedicine Enables Prescription Fillings
“People are utilizing the different channels to obtain available medications,” said David Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University. Based on what is known about human history and the world at large—namely, that people would find a means to end pregnancies they don’t want—this “is not surprising.”
Mifepristone and misoprostol are the two medications that are usually used in combination for medication abortions. One reason why the number of abortions rose overall even after Roe v. Wade was overruled by the Supreme Court in 2022 is the growing popularity of these drugs.
Most states controlled by Republicans enacted abortion bans after the Roe decision was overturned. With rare exceptions, it is now illegal in 14 states, and it is prohibited in 3 more after around six weeks of pregnancy.
However, the converse was true in numerous states ruled by Democrats. They have passed legislation designed to shield residents of their states from federal agents looking into offenses related to abortion in other states. By the end of the previous year, such provisions had been put in place expressly to cover telemedicine prescriptions for abortion pills in five of those states: Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Washington.
Debate Surrounds Jurisdictional Challenges
“Colorado will not participate in any Texas criminal action or civil lawsuit if a Colorado provider provides telehealth care to a patient who is in Texas,” Cohen stated. “Colorado states that the medical care given within our state was lawful. Because the supplier was located in our state, it complies with our laws.
Planned Parenthood of Greater New York President and CEO Wendy Stark referred to the state’s shield bill as “a critical win for abortion access in our state.”
General counsel for the National Right to Life Committee James Bopp Jr. stated that for pill-by-telemedicine abortions, the law should be applied where the abortion occurs, not where the prescriber is situated. He explained that this is how other laws operate.
However, this question hasn’t yet been put to the test in court, in contrast to many other elements of abortion regulation.
According to Bopp, a prosecutor in a jurisdiction where there is a ban on the practice of charging an out-of-state prescriber with performing an illegal abortion is the only method to legally challenge a shield statute.
Bopp said, “It’ll probably happen, and we’ll get a legal challenge.”
It’s not clear how many people were getting abortion pills from sources outside the official medical system prior to the shield laws going into place, according to researchers.
Shield Laws to Strengthen Healthcare Access
In order “to maintain the highest level of protection for individuals receiving that care and providers providing that care,” the organization is not breaking down the number of pills shipped to each state with a ban, according to Ohio State University epidemiologist and lead researcher on the #WeCount report Alison Norris.
More shield legislation, according to Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, director of Aid Access, provider of abortion pills that works with U.S. clinicians, will strengthen the health care system.
The #WeCount article included Gomperts’ organization’s stats. “They’re extremely important because they make doctors and providers… feel safe and protected,” Gomperts said. “I hope that shield laws will be adopted by all the states that do not currently prohibit abortion.”
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