ACOG Suit Petitions the FDA to Remove Burdensome Barriers to Reproductive Care During COVID-19

ACOG Suit Petitions the FDA to Remove Burdensome Barriers to Reproductive Care During COVID-19

May 27, 2020

Washington, DC – The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) took another step toward achieving equitable access to care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic by asking a federal court to require the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to suspend a harmful FDA restriction on mifepristone. Joining ACOG as plaintiffs in today’s lawsuit are the Council of University Chairs of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the New York Academy of Family Physicians, and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective.

Mifepristone is an evidence-based treatment prescribed for management of early pregnancy loss as well as induced abortion. Although mifepristone has long been proven to be safe and effective when prescribed through telemedicine and can be safely taken in the comfort of a patient’s home, outdated FDA restrictions require mifepristone to be dispensed in a hospital, clinic, or medical office.

Continued: https://www.acog.org/news/news-releases/2020/05/acog-suit-petitions-the-fda-to-remove-burdensome-barriers-to-reproductive-care-during-covid-19

USA – Feminist Multi-Front Battle to End FDA’s Abortion Pill Restriction

Feminist Multi-Front Battle to End FDA’s Abortion Pill Restriction

5/20/2020
by Carrie N. Baker

Feminists have been fighting a defensive battle to protect abortion rights for years—but today some are taking the offense, pushing to expand abortion access by calling for the removal of FDA restriction on the abortion pill mifepristone.

Formerly known as RU-486, mifepristone ends pregnancy by blocking the effects of the hormone progesterone, which sustains pregnancy. Used in combination with another drug—misoprostol, which causes contractions to complete an abortion—mifepristone is extremely safe.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2020/05/20/feminist-multi-front-battle-to-end-fdas-abortion-pill-restriction/

USA – No-Test Medication Abortion Increases Safety and Access During COVID-19

No-Test Medication Abortion Increases Safety and Access During COVID-19
A new study proposes an innovative, no-test medication abortion protocol that would enable clinicians to safely administer medication abortion to patients without any preliminary tests or in-person encounters

5/13/2020
by Carrie N. Baker

Imagine a world where women could access safe and supported abortion health care without ever leaving their homes. In this world, after a phone call or video conference with a health care professional, women could receive the abortion pill in the mail, which they could take safely in the privacy of their own homes under the supervision of a clinician.

No invasive, time-consuming pelvic exams or blood tests. No state-mandated ultrasounds or waiting periods requiring multiple visits. No walking past lines of screaming anti-abortion protesters. No driving long distances, having to find and pay for child care, or taking time off from work. No exposure to COVID-19.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2020/05/13/no-test-medication-abortion-increases-safety-and-access-during-covid-19/

Abortion during the Covid-19 Pandemic — Ensuring Access to an Essential Health Service

Abortion during the Covid-19 Pandemic — Ensuring Access to an Essential Health Service
Perspective

Michelle J. Bayefsky, B.A., Deborah Bartz, M.D., M.P.H., and Katie L. Watson, J.D.
May 7, 2020
N Engl J Med 2020; 382:e47
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp2008006

Each year, nearly 1 million women choose to end a pregnancy in the United States, and about one quarter of American women will use abortion services by 45 years of age. Women’s ability to determine whether and when they have a child has profound consequences for their self-determination and for the economic, social, and political equality of women as a group. Because access to safe abortion care is time-sensitive and vitally important, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and other reproductive health professional organizations issued an unequivocal statement on March 18, 2020, that they “do not support Covid-19 responses that cancel or delay abortion procedures.”

Continued: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2008006

State Action to Limit Abortion Access During the COVID-19 Pandemic

State Action to Limit Abortion Access During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Laurie Sobel, Amrutha Ramaswamy, Brittni Frederiksen, and Alina Salganicoff
Published: Apr 24, 2020

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted several states to place restrictions that have effectively banned or blocked the availability of abortion services. While every state has taken action to declare a public health emergency to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, several states have made public health emergency declarations to specifically define abortion as non-essential or elective health procedures and banned abortions until the end of the emergency. States have justified these orders to conserve personal protective equipment (PPE). However, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and other leading medical professional organizations issued a statement defining abortion as a time sensitive and “essential component of comprehensive health care” and that delay, even days, “may increase the risks or potentially make it completely inaccessible.” The World Health Organization also classifies abortion “essential” to women’s rights and health.

Continued: https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/state-action-to-limit-abortion-access-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

USA – Abortion during the Covid-19 Pandemic — Ensuring Access to an Essential Health Service

Abortion during the Covid-19 Pandemic — Ensuring Access to an Essential Health Service

Michelle J. Bayefsky, B.A., Deborah Bartz, M.D., M.P.H., and Katie L. Watson, J.D.
Perspective, NEJM
April 9, 2020
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp2008006

Despite ACOG’s position, governors in a number of states have called for a halt to abortion care throughout the Covid-19 epidemic. Governors in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Oklahoma have ordered or supported the cessation of both medication and surgical abortion, while governors in other states have directed that surgical abortion alone must stop.

Continued: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2008006

USA – Anti-Choice Politicians Are Using the Coronavirus Crisis to Deny Abortion Rights

Anti-Choice Politicians Are Using the Coronavirus Crisis to Deny Abortion Rights
And they’re succeeding in ways they never could, absent the global public-health nightmare

By David S. Cohen & Carole Joffe
Mar 25, 2020

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, while the rest of the nation is focusing on staying healthy and social distancing, anti-abortion politicians and movement leaders have been doing the only thing they know — pursuing an agenda to shut down abortion clinics. Capitalizing on the mantra to never let a crisis go to waste, they are succeeding in ways they never could, absent the global public-health nightmare.

The chief vehicle they have been using is shutting down what they deem nonessential health care. By now, most people are familiar with orders from mayors or governors that only essential businesses can remain open. Most places that have put these orders in place have also specified that medical facilities can no longer perform elective or nonessential procedures.

Continued: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/anti-choice-politicians-are-using-the-coronavirus-crisis-to-deny-abortion-rights-973096/

USA – How Anti-Abortion Activists Are Taking Advantage of the Coronavirus Crisis

How Anti-Abortion Activists Are Taking Advantage of the Coronavirus Crisis

By Robin Marty
March 24, 2020

In just two weeks the novel coronavirus managed exactly what anti-abortion activists struggled for nearly five decades to accomplish: it is the biggest threat to legal abortion in America ever imagined. The entire globe is facing completely uncharted territory in public health, and many are working to address the pandemic by implementing telemedicine and other online tools to care for everyday health needs while COVID-19 patients inundate hospitals. This could help people in need of abortions, too — if legalized, doctors could remotely prescribe medication to be taken at home that would terminate pregnancies up to 10 weeks. Yet despite having a safe and effective means of ending an early pregnancy without any need to physically see a medical professional, abortion opponents are instead using this moment to close as many abortion clinics as possible throughout the U.S. — an action that will lead to another health system crisis even if COVID-19 is contained.

Continued: https://time.com/5808471/coronavirus-abortion-access/

Your Questions About Reproductive Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Answered

Your Questions About Reproductive Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Answered
"The effect [of the COVID-19 outbreak] on people accessing abortion care is considerable, especially in those states that have limited access."

Mar 17, 2020
Rewire.News Staff

With some U.S. cities on lockdown and businesses and schools shutting their doors, the COVID-19 virus is dramatically changing everyday life for people across the country, including those seeking reproductive health services.

In the face of potential quarantining, monthslong lockdowns, and social distancing, there’s no question that people will have anxiety over potential interruptions to their abortion care and other reproductive health care.

Continued: https://rewire.news/article/2020/03/17/your-questions-about-reproductive-health-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-answered/

USA – The Future Of Abortion Is In The Hands Of John Roberts

The Future Of Abortion Is In The Hands Of John Roberts
Medically unnecessary laws regulating abortion have been exposed as dishonest attempts to close clinics. Will the Supreme Court still give them legal cover?

03/06/2020
By Melissa Jeltsen, HuffPost US

In 2016, Louisiana had six abortion clinics. By 2017, the number had dwindled to three. Soon, there may be only one clinic left to serve nearly 1 million women of reproductive age in the state. Whether or not this happens will likely depend on the outcome of a critical abortion case now with the Supreme Court.

The case centers on a Louisiana law that requires doctors who provide abortions to have “admitting privileges” at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic, a difficult-to-obtain arrangement that critics say is a sly attempt to wipe out abortion access in the state.

Continued: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/john-roberts-abortion-supreme-court_n_5e613793c5b601904ea6fd78?ri18n=true