‘I feel called to do this’: US providers sending abortion medication by mail

The documentary Plan C embeds with the organization sending FDA-approved abortion pills to recipients in all 50 states

Adrian Horton
Thu 9 Nov 2023

The question of why hangs over Plan C, a new documentary on efforts to expand access to medication abortion in the United States. Why seek a medication abortion? Because it’s safe, says one woman. (The two-pill combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, both certified by the FDA, are approved for the termination of pregnancy in the first trimester in 90 countries, although its use is severely restricted in the US.)

Because of the comfort and safety of being in one’s own home, says another in a montage of phone calls seeking medication abortion by mail. Because the fear of facing screaming protesters at clinics, because her family’s military doctor refused to tie her tubes at 24, because “I felt more comfortable doing this at my own pace, at my own time”.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/nov/09/plan-c-documentary-mail-abortion-pill-ban

Abortion advocacy group Plan C informs people how to get abortion pills in every state

Plan C has been a resource for those seeking abortion medication information online since before Roe v. Wade was overturned.

By Rebekah Sager
July 11, 2023

Since its founding in 2014, the Plan C network has been determined to make sure that the comprehensive information on its website continues to help those seeking abortion medication — particularly in states where abortion care has been restricted or banned.

Plan C offers current and updated information about how to access at-home abortion medication. It lists all of the options available, depending on where a person lives: telehealth services, local community support networks offering free or generic pills, and a list of websites that sell the pills. The site additionally lists the costs and the number of days it takes for at-home delivery.

Continued: https://americanindependent.com/abortion-advocacy-group-plan-c-medication-states-bans/

11.07.2023

USA – Abortion Pills Will Be Crucial in a Post-Roe World. But They’re Not the Magic Fix Many Think They Are.

Let me repeat: equity, equity, equity.

BECCA ANDREWS
Jun 7, 2022

Ever since it became evident that Roe is likely to fall in the coming weeks, activists and folks who are generally interested in preserving abortion access have heralded medication abortion as the great solution to the end of legal abortion. And it’s true—mifespristone and misoprostol have a lot of advantages that will surely come in handy in our post-Roe future, the main one being that it’s a do-it-yourself, at-home abortion method that is safe and effective.

As Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director at URGE (Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity), said in a media briefing, “As we look at the impact of abortion bans, particularly disproportionately impacting communities such as Black and Brown folks, young people, as well as low-income communities, and immigrants, and trans young people, it is even more important that we consider the potential of self-managed abortion as an essential tool for accessing reproductive health care and autonomy for these marginalized communities.”

Continued: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/06/medication-abortion-roe-solution-access/

USA – Amid Covid-19, a Call for M.D.s to Mail the Abortion Pill

Amid Covid-19, a Call for M.D.s to Mail the Abortion Pill
For decades, the consensus has been that F.D.A. regulations require that the abortion pill be obtained in a clinic. But that’s changing.

By Patrick Adams
May 12, 2020

Last fall, months before America’s first outbreak of the coronavirus, Francine Coeytaux and Elisa Wells, co-founders of the abortion rights advocacy group Plan C, were reaching out to doctors with a question they said was urgent:

“Would you be willing to mail the ‘abortion pills’ to women in their homes?”

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/12/opinion/covid-abortion-pill.html

The Pandemic Means More People May Be Giving Themselves Abortions

The Pandemic Means More People May Be Giving Themselves Abortions
But the abortion pill sites people rely on are in jeopardy.

by Marie Solis
Apr 8 2020

The first time H* needed an abortion, she drove about two hours to the nearest clinic and back, waited 48 hours—the required waiting period for anyone in Tennessee seeking an abortion—then went back and paid more than $700 for the procedure. That’s not counting gas money for eight hours of driving, or the wages she lost when she took time off from her hourly job for the appointment.

In March, she learned she was pregnant again, and found herself confronting many of the same barriers to getting an abortion: The clinic was still far away, the procedure was still costly, and she would still have to take off a day or two to account for the waiting period and the drives to and from the clinic.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/g5xezx/abortion-pill-sites-still-shipping-during-coronavirus-aid-access

There’s a New Website That Teaches People How to Do Abortions

There's a New Website That Teaches People How to Do Abortions
A series of how-to videos shows providers how to do abortions with pills. But they can also help people who want to do it themselves.

by Marie Solis
Jan 28 2020

In the same amount of time it takes you to boil an egg, or answer an email, a new online video will show you how to end a pregnancy with pills.

Animated figures, accompanied by voice-over narration, take viewers through the process step by step: When to take the mifepristone, the first part of the two-part drug regimen for medication abortion; how long after that to take the misoprostol, how to place those pills under the tongue; and when to expect the cramping and bleeding, which signal that the passing of the pregnancy has begun. The 11-minute video also provides instructions on how to relieve pain or discomfort, and when to seek medical help. At the very beginning, it tells viewers how safe and effective this abortion method is, and how low the rate of complication.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4ag3wn/how-to-videos-abortion-with-pills-mifeprstone-misoprostol-doctors-without-borders

USA – Activists Are Now Teaching Women How to Have Abortions at Home

Activists Are Now Teaching Women How to Have Abortions at Home
“So long as we have a safe option that can be accomplished outside of a clinical or medical setting, there’s no reason that shouldn’t also be available.”

by Carter Sherman
Jan 22 2020

COLUMBIA, Missouri — In the Columbia Public Library, just past a room where a Bible study was wrapping up, a group of people gathered in a conference room to learn how to have an abortion at home.

What happens when you self-induce an abortion? one woman asked the panelists, who sat at a table in the front of the room.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/xgqywj/activists-are-now-teaching-women-how-to-have-abortions-at-home

USA – More People Are Starting to Prefer Managing Their Abortions on Their Own

More People Are Starting to Prefer Managing Their Abortions on Their Own
And it's not just because of restrictive state laws.

by Marie Solis
Oct 17 2019

People are turning to at-home abortion as state lawmakers attack reproductive rights and restrict clinic access across the United States, according to new research published in the American Journal of Public Health on Thursday.

The findings are the result of a 10-month study of Women on Web, a website that prescribes and sells abortion pills abroad — not in the United States. But despite that caveat, the Netherlands-based doctor who runs the site, Rebecca Gomperts, says she has received requests from American women since she began operations in 2006.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k5yb/buying-abortion-pills-online-is-becoming-more-widespread

U.S.: In today’s movement toward home abortions, echoes of past cultural battles

In today's movement toward home abortions, echoes of past cultural battles

'The cultural atmosphere [today is] way worse than the atmosphere that the underground service worked in during the ‘68 to ‘73 period,' says a former 'Jane,' who helped women obtain abortions before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion.

Jessica Mendoza, Staff writer
July 5, 2017

Los Angeles — In the fall of 1970, a schoolteacher named Judith Arcana walked into a meeting held at a church a few blocks from her Chicago apartment. She emerged hours later a newly minted member of Jane, an underground collective that counseled women through – and later performed – thousands of illegal abortions between 1968 and 1973.

To Ms. Arcana, then 27, the idea of providing women with safe, dignified abortions dovetailed with her interest in reproductive justice and the burgeoning women’s liberation movement. “It seemed so right,” she recalls. “I was energized spiritually and politically, as well as intellectually.”

Continued at source: Christian Science Monitor: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2017/0705/In-today-s-movement-toward-home-abortions-echoes-of-past-cultural-battles