About 40% of all termination of pregnancy procedures in the United States are now performed with medication rather than surgery, and that option has become the most commonly used option during the coronavirus pandemic.
Abortion rights advocates noted that the pandemic has demonstrated the value of the virtual healthcare provided, as well as the privacy and convenience of procedures performed in the patient’s home, rather than in a clinic. Opponents of abortion fear the method will become more common, so are pushing for a multi-state proposal led by Republicans to restrict it and, in some cases, ban providers from remotely prescribing abortion drugs.
This year, Ohio introduced a ban proposing criminal prosecution for doctors who violate the ban. The law will go into effect next week, but a judge has temporarily blocked it in response to a lawsuit filed by the Planned Parenthood organization.
Opponents of the ban noted that telemedicine abortions are safe and that banning them would have a disproportionate effect on rural residents who have to travel a long distance to get to the nearest abortion clinic.
Another bill aims to ban the delivery of abortion pills by mail, shorten the 10-week period during which the method is allowed and require doctors to tell women that they will undergo medical abortions that the process can be reversed halfway through . a claim that critics call scientifically unfounded.
This is part of a wave of anti-abortion measures several states are considering this year, including some that would ban almost all abortions. Supporters of the proposals hope that the Supreme Court, which now has a 6-3 Conservative majority, would be willing to overturn Roe v. Wade’s 1973 decision that enshrined the nationwide right to terminate pregnancies.
Drug-induced abortions have been available in the United States since 2000, when the Drug Enforcement Administration approved the use of mifepristone. Together with misoprostol it forms the so-called abortion pill.