Self-Managed Abortions Soar Post-Dobbs

Self-Managed Abortions Soar Post-Dobbs
11/7/2022 by Carrie N. Baker
Requests for abortion pills increased 33 percent in the 30 most restrictive states after the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade came down.



Melissa Grant, chief operating officer of Carafem, holds up pills used for abortion on July 1, 2022. The FDA has approved a regimen of one mifepristone pill and four misoprostol pills through 10 weeks of pregnancy. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades / For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

New research is showing the impact of Supreme Court decision in June overturning constitutional abortion rights and allowing abortion bans to take effect in many states. Reported abortion in states with restricted access dropped 32 percent between April and August 2022, according to recent study from the Society of Family Planning—while reported abortion in states with protected access increased by 11 percent. Reported abortions dropped 6 percent overall, with over 10,000 fewer reported abortions reported in July and August.

However, another recent study shows requests for self-managed abortion through Austria-based telemedicine abortion provider Aid Access increased 33 percent in the 30 most restrictive states from before the leaked Supreme Court opinion on May 2 and after the decision came down on June 24. Before the Supreme Court’s abortion decision leaked on May 2, requests averaged around 83 a day. After the leak, that number jumped to 137. Since the court decision on June 24, the daily average has increased to nearly 214. Over July and August, that’s 13,268 requests. Most are filled.

Together these studies indicate that many people living in restrictive states are accessing abortion by traveling to states where abortion is legal or self-managing their abortions by ordering abortion pills online from outside of the country. “Abortion pills are safe, effective, and awesome,” said Erin Matson, executive director of Reproaction. “No matter what happens to laws, abortion pills aren’t going anywhere—and information about how they work belongs to everyone.”

Dutch physician Rebecca Gomperts founded Aid Access in 2018 to provide telemedicine abortion to people in all 50 states. At the time, telemedicine abortion was not available from U.S.-based providers because of restrictive policies of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—restrictions that have since been lifted. In the 30 states that still ban telemedicine abortion, Aid Access provides this service from outside of the United States for a sliding scale fee up to $105.



Rebecca Gomperts lands a ship in Valencia, Spain, as part of Women on Waves, which brought reproductive health services to women in countries with restrictive abortion laws. Gomperts founded Aid Access in in 2018, which ships abortion pills from abroad. (Courtesy of Vessel press kit)

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https://msmagazine.com/2022/11/07/abortion-pills-roe-v-wade-dobbs/