Women's Rights & Issues
Related: About this forumThe next normal: The future of medication abortion is at home
The next normal: The future of medication abortion is at home
By Abigail R. A. Aiken
Abigail R.A. Aiken is an associate professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin.
October 29, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. EDT
Weve all spent the past year thinking about the return to normalcy in the wake of the pandemic. But our worlds always changing, even outside of the moments that seem obviously exceptional. Sometimes that change takes the form of some dramatic, unforeseen rupture; often, it happens more subtly. What aspects of the imagined, far-off future might soon become part of our ordinary present? Were asking policy experts, historians, scientists, economists and creators about the ways they think that society will shift next transformations that once may have seemed inconceivable, but now seem possible. Sophia Nguyen
This has been the worst legislative year for U.S. abortion rights on record. More restrictions have been passed in 2021 than in any year since Roe v. Wade. In the most extreme case, Texas banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The Supreme Court may be poised to overturn Roe. Yet despite moves by some states to make abortions harder to obtain from a clinic, an increasing number of people are using abortion pills at home.
Medication abortion, which involves two pills taken 24 hours apart to terminate pregnancies up to 10 weeks, is one of the simplest and safest procedures in all of medicine. The pills cause bleeding and cramping. Afterward, a simple pregnancy test can confirm that the pills have worked. But for many in the United States, accessing these pills is an obstacle course, thanks to a rash of state-level restrictions blocking clinic access. With no federal and little state funding available, the price tag of $300 to $800 often falls on the individual.
Ironically, it is exactly these restrictions that have sparked innovation in where and how people access the medication. When laws prohibit in-clinic access, people often take matters into their own hands and self-manage their abortions outside of formal health care settings. Indeed, some people prefer self-management; it offers convenience, privacy and an alternative for some who may distrust the formal health care system. A 2020 study suggests that approximately 7 percent of U.S. women have attempted a self-managed abortion in any form, including pills in their lifetime.
Though the historical record indicates that people in North America have managed their own abortions for centuries, evidence also suggests that self-managed abortion using pills has been on the rise in recent years. In 2018, an Amsterdam-based doctor launched Aid Access, the first online telemedicine service to provide self-managed medication abortion to people living in the United States. The service operates entirely outside of the formal health care system and outside of Food and Drug Administration regulations, which ban mifepristone imports. Aid Access serves people in all 50 states, providing mifepristone and misoprostol up to 10 weeks of pregnancy for home use. People make a donation of around $110 and fill out an online consultation form, which is reviewed by a doctor, and then medications are mailed to their home. A help desk is available for information and support. Testifying to the scale of demand, the service has received 57,506 requests during its first two years of operation.
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By Abigail Aiken
Abigail R.A. Aiken is an associate professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. Twitter https://twitter.com/ProjectSANAteam
Walleye
(35,147 posts)But, like all other rights for women its moving very slowly. Dont know what the right wing are gonna do if they no longer have this issue.
markie
(22,895 posts)can't come soon enough... my first abortion (before Roe V Wade) was self induced with herbs... Women need and deserve good medicine for their health!!
Tetrachloride
(8,443 posts)What cost compared to Canada?
What raises the price besides profits ? Regulation?
multigraincracker
(33,957 posts)farm animals. So, are they the same as used for people?
"administration of luteolytic doses of prostaglandin F 2 alpha (PG). From 150 days onwards and till term bovine and bubaline pregnancies can be safely terminated by administration of a combination of PG and dexamethasone."
If so, do they sell them at farm supply stores?
asking for a friend.
niyad
(119,554 posts)gestational slavers will do everything in their power to stop this. How DARE women do something private. How DARE they not have to run gauntlets of haters, screaming and threatening them.
Now for fda to overturn the ban on those two drugs, because the ban is about controlling women, not issues of safety.
dixiechiken1
(2,113 posts)Very informative, lots of good info. Thanks!
Wounded Bear
(60,596 posts)MontanaMama
(23,988 posts)This information is excellent. Thank you.
Joinfortmill
(16,353 posts)paleotn
(19,086 posts)Since many cannot access or afford safe, medically prescribed abortion pharmaceuticals, we're back to the days of pennyroyal and other herbs that have killed women seeking abortions for millennia.
oldsoftie
(13,538 posts)These are not very expensive; easy and safe to use. And using them stops having to do more drastic measures at home later on.
Farmer-Rick
(11,223 posts)In India but a lot of pharmacies don't stock it.
In Nigeria they sell the pills over the counter but outlaw abortions. Weird way of saying go ahead and do it, just don't let me catch you.
Christian Americans are really stupid if they think they can stop a woman from taking 2 pills. It's that easy. 90+ percent of women who have used the abortion pills had successful outcomes with no side affects. And it turns out, you can use the pills for even later pregnancy with over an 80 percent success rate without major side affects.
The abortion pill is a really the wave of the future and governments and Christians, who can't understand their own bible, will never stop women from controlling their own reproduction.