The pandemic sparked the rise of tele-abortion. Is it here to stay?

After 20 years in the U.S., medication abortion is finally widely accessible through telehealth. But a looming Supreme Court ruling could change all that.

BY RUTH READER
10.02.2020

In April of this year, when some of Minnesota’s already few abortion clinics started to close because of the pandemic, a new organization popped up with a novel idea: It would bring abortion services to Minnesotans using a mobile clinic. Called Just The Pill, its goal was to connect the state’s most rural corners with medication abortion care, a two-pill regimen that can end a pregnancy.

In the past, it’s been hard for sexual health groups to get medication abortion to people in remote areas. The Food and Drug Administration restricts one of the medications, mifepristone, in several ways. Patients must take the pill at a clinic, for example. On top of that, states have their own rules that can further encumber access. However, the medical data overwhelmingly shows the abortion pill is safe, even to take at home alone. Health experts say politics—not data—are informing these rules.

Continued: https://www.fastcompany.com/90550536/telehealth-abortion-pill-supreme-court-ruling


Australia – This new service provides abortions online for women in rural and regional areas

This new service provides abortions online for women in rural and regional areas
Abortion Online aims to fill the gap left by The Tabbot Foundation, a tele-abortion service that shut down earlier this year due to funding problems.

Oct 25, 2019
By Sam Langford

For women in rural and regional Australia, accessing abortion services can be costly and a logistical nightmare, requiring hours of travel to reach a clinic.

Now, a new "tele-abortion" service aims to change that. Abortion Online, launched this week, provides medical termination consultations online or over the phone, removing the need to travel to an abortion clinic in person.

Continued: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/this-new-service-provides-abortions-online-for-women-in-rural-and-regional-areas