Access to Medication Abortion: Now More Important Than Ever.

Abstract

In 2017, 39% of all abortions in the United States were medication abortions, a safe and effective option for those seeking abortions through up to ten weeks of pregnancy.2 The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medication abortion, composed of a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, in 2000, making the method available for the first time.3 The FDA’s choice to approve medication abortion gave abortion activists hope that abortion would bemore readily accessible.4 One of the many barriers to abortion is the social outing one must undertake when visiting a doctor’s office to obtain the procedure—visits often accompanied by protestors outside those offices shouting at the patient. Medication abortion allows for patients to essentially perform their abortions privately, in their own homes, without suffering that social condemnation.5 However, starting in 2004, numerous states began restricting access to medication abortion.6 Many states require that medication abortion only be prescribed and administered7 by a physician who is in the same room as the patient, which essentially prevents physician assistants or advanced practice nurses from prescribing the medication, and any clinician from prescribing and administering the medication via telemedicine.8 These restrictions became problematic during the COVID-19 pandemic when doctors’ offices were either closed or dangerous places to visit for people with certain health conditions.9