prostol pills for up to 11 weeks of pregnancy. The World Health Organ- ization has approved this regimen for up to 13 weeks. Abortion pills are ef- fective later in pregnancy under a dif- ferent regimen. In states restricting access to
telemedicine abortion, women are ordering abortion pills through Austria-based Aid Access, run by Dr. Rebecca Gomperts. For patients in all 50 U.S. states, Aid Access offers physician-supervised telehealth ap- pointments using online forms. In states that restrict telemedicine abor- tion, the pills are shipped from India for a sliding-scale fee of up to $110 and are delivered in two to three weeks. Gomperts has provided abor- tion pills to more than 30,000 U.S. patients in the past four years. In restrictive states women are or-
dering pills from U.S. providers and using mail-forwarding services. Be- cause providers are allowed to mail pills only to patients who have a mail- ing address in the states where the provider is licensed to practice, women are renting a mailing address from mail-forwarding services such as iPostal1 or Anytime Mailbox to use for the telemedicine consultation. Then they request the service to for- ward the pills to them in their home states. Alternatively, women ask friends in a state that allows telemed- icine abortion to let them use their address, or they use “general deliv- ery” at a U.S. Post Office in the clos- est neighboring state to reduce traveling distances. A third option is to order abortion
pills from online pharmacies based outside of the U.S. The organization Plan C has vetted online pharmacies by ordering abortion medication from them and testing the pills for quality. On its website, Plan C lists web addresses for pharmacies that have shipped medications reliably, along with cost and shipping time. These pharmacies do not require a
www.msmagazine.com
prescription to obtain abortion pills. Guidance for using abortion pills is
available from Plan C and from How
ToUseAbortionPill.org. The M+A Hotline provides free confidential support from licensed health profes- sionals by phone or text from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in continental U.S. time zones, seven days a week. Anyone who obtains pills through
alternate sources such as online phar- macies should be aware that some states have prosecuted women for self- managing their abortions. The Repro Legal Helpline is available for anyone who has questions about the legal risks. According to Gomperts, in the
While in-clinic
medication abortion costs an average of
charge as little as $150.
$550 in the U.S., virtual providers
rare event that a woman has to go to the hospital with complications, she does not need to disclose that she took the pills and the treatment would be the same as for a naturally occurring miscarriage. As the Supreme Court is poised to
overturn Roe v. Wade this summer and states are passing new bans and re- strictions at a record pace, abortion pills offer a convenient and affordable way to end unwanted pregnancies in a medically safe way.
n
CARRIE N. BAKER, J.D., Ph.D., is a professor in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College and a contributing editor for Ms.
SPRING 2022 | 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
