Mifepristone
Patients are turning to telehealth appointments and online pharmacies for routine medical care during the COVID-19 outbreak without having to leave their homes. But for most pregnant people seeking safe and effective abortion pills, the FDA has created a Byzantine set of rules that delay or block access to care.
The FDA says pregnant people can meet with their doctors remotely and have their abortion at home — but first, they must travel during a global pandemic just to pick up their pills.
The FDA Must Permit Pregnant People to Get the Abortion Pill Where They Have the Abortion — at Home!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Evita Almassi, ealmassi@nwhn.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Evita Almassi, ealmassi@nwhn.org or (202) 682-6240
Writing for Jezebel last year, Dr. Meera Shah described just a few of the many reasons why pregnant people might prefer self-managed (or self-induced) abortion to an abortion performed in a clinic.
Medication abortion is the method of safely and effectively inducing a miscarriage using FDA-approved abortion pills. Medication abortion can be used to end a pregnancy up to 10 weeks from the first day of your last period.
Medication abortion is safe and effective, but medically unnecessary rules block access — by design.
There are two abortion methods currently available: a procedure performed in an office or clinic, or an abortion brought on by taking FDA-approved medication. Both methods are safe and effective for ending a pregnancy.
Women should not have to see a doctor, or “get permission” from the medical community, before ending their pregnancy with safe and effective FDA-approved medications.