June 24 (Reuters) – Following the June 24 ruling of the US Supreme Court eliminating the nationwide right to abortion that was recognized nearly 50 years ago in its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, the demand for abortion pills that can be prescribed through online telemedicine visits is likely to increase. But experts say drug abortion will not necessarily provide a way for most women to avoid the stringent new abortion bans currently in place in conservative states.
WHAT IS A MEDICATION ABORTION?
During a pharmacological abortion, the patient takes a drug called mifepristone, also known as RU-486, followed by a second drug called misoprostol to end the pregnancy instead of having surgery. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group dealing with abortion rights, more than half of all abortions in the United States are pharmacological abortions.
HOW DOES THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REGULATE MEDICATION ABORTIONS?
The US Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone in 2000, but until recently the FDA ordered patients to take it at a doctor’s office, clinic, or hospital. After easing these restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency in December permanently abandoned the need to issue it in person, allowing patients to consult their doctors via telemedicine visits and receive tablets by mail. This has increased access to abortion for patients living in remote areas where there are no service providers nearby, and for women who cannot take time off work or cannot enter the clinic for other reasons. Medicines are approved for use up to the 10th week of pregnancy.
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DO STATES RESTRICT MEDICATION ABORTION?
Yes. Pharmacological abortions have become the target of politicians and anti-abortion activists. Read also : Sports betting in Florida: Has it been legalized, how to bet online, where to get picks, new promos. Indiana bans pharmacological abortion after 10 weeks, and Texas after seven weeks; other state drug abortion bans have been blocked by the courts.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, thirty-two states only allow doctors, not other clinicians, such as nurses, to issue abortion pills. Nineteen conditions require the treating physician to be in the physical presence of the patient, effectively prohibiting telemedicine.
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THE SUPREME COURT’S RULING ON TELEMEDICINE ABORTION?
Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, 13 states had so-called “liberation laws” written to introduce new abortion bans immediately or shortly after the Roe v Wade case was lifted, and other states are expected to follow suit after Friday’s Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health ruling. This may interest you : With the end of Roe, Texans will have to travel long distances for legal abortions.
The Guttmacher Institute predicts that at least 26 states, including those with liberating laws, will pass new abortion laws. Such state regulations have so far failed to distinguish between surgical and pharmacological abortion, so it is expected that they will completely prohibit pharmacological abortion. Some will ban abortions almost completely, while others will ban abortions after six or 15 weeks. read more
Democrat, US Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota, unveiled a bill on Thursday that will ensure telemedicine abortion is available in states where abortion remains legal pending a Supreme Court ruling.
CAN A PATIENT IN A STATE WHERE MEDICATION ABORTION IS ILLEGAL GET THE PILLS FROM AN OUT-OF-STATE PROVIDER WHERE IT IS LEGAL?
Misoprostol pills, used to terminate early pregnancies, are shown in the picture taken on June 20, 2022. Read also : The United States needs people to stand up for abortion. REUTERS / Edgard Garrido / Ilustracja
It depends. Lawyers say it is illegal for a doctor to prescribe pills via telemedicine to a woman in a state where they are illegal.
“Telemedicine laws generally say the location of the patient is in control,” said Amanda Allen, senior adviser at the Lawyering Project, an organization representing abortion providers. She said doctors prescribing abortion pills to a patient in a state where they are illegal could lose their licenses in that state and even face criminal charges.
A woman who lives in a state where abortion is illegal can go to a state where it is legal, make a telemedicine visit, and send medications to that address.
“In some cases, it’s a bit less onerous and costly than going to an in-patient clinic in a neighboring state,” she said, noting that patients who travel to clinics in other states sometimes struggle with weeks of waiting for appointments.
ARE THERE CURRENTLY LAWSUITS CHALLENGING STATE RESTRICTIONS ON MEDICATION ABORTION?
Yes. GenBioPro Inc, the company that sells mifepristone, has already challenged Mississippi’s restrictions on prescribing abortion pills via telemedicine, arguing that they are “overtaken” by the FDA, meaning that federal drug approval overrides any state law. There was no ruling on this case, which is pending before a Mississippi federal court.
Similar challenges have been reported before. In 2014, a Massachusetts federal judge overturned a state law designed to regulate opioid drugs more stringently than federal law because it had been thwarted.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland appeared to endorse this position in a statement on the June 24 Supreme Court ruling, saying states “cannot ban mifepristone based on disagreement with an FDA expert’s opinion on its safety and efficacy.”
Mississippi argues that FDA approval cannot circumvent Supreme Court rulings granting states the power to regulate abortion.
CAN PATIENTS GET ABORTION PILLS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES?
Yes. Women in states struggling with telemedicine abortion more and more often order tablets from abroad via the Internet.
While such a practice is illegal, state authorities say they do not have an effective way to control the orders of foreign doctors and pharmacies.
(This story has been edited to change the reference from “medical abortion” to “medical abortion”)
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Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York and Nate Raymond in Boston; Edited by Alexia Garamfalvi and Aurora Ellis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Abortion in Wyoming is currently legal, though it is expected to be banned after the Supreme Court overturning the Roe v. Wade case on June 24, 2022, which made abortion a matter of state rights. In a 2014 poll by the Pew Research Center, 48% of Wyoming adults said abortion should be legal in all or most of the cases.
Is abortion legal in Illinois?
Illinois abortion is legal. Illinois Early 19th Century Abortion Laws; the first criminal sanctions related to abortion were imposed in 1827, and the abortion itself became illegal in 1867.
Is the Abortion Pill Legal in Illinois? Abortion Options Both options are safe, effective, and legal in Illinois. PPIL also offers abortion medication by mail to eligible patients following a telehealth visit.
Are abortions free in Illinois?
Illinois is one of the few states to use its income to pay for abortion insurance for women enrolled in Medicaid. In addition, private insurance policies are likely to cover the abortion if other pregnancy costs are covered.
What is the cut off time for abortion in Illinois?
Rights. Nobody can force you to have an abortion. In Illinois, a pregnant woman may elect to terminate her pregnancy until about week 24 of her pregnancy. After approximately 24 weeks, a person can only have an abortion if there is a medical need.
Is abortion illegal in Ohio?
Abortion in Ohio is legal until 20 weeks after conception, which is approximately 22 weeks after a woman’s first day of her last normal period, except in Lebanon, Ohio, where abortion at all stages of pregnancy has been banned by local authorities. ordinance.
How Much Does an Abortion Cost in Ohio? Overall, an abortion costs between $ 500 and $ 1,000. Make an appointment to find out more about abortion and the services we offer.
How far along can you be to get an abortion in Ohio?
In Ohio, a medical abortion, which is performed with the abortion pill, can be obtained by up to ten weeks of pregnancy. It simply means that a woman can opt for this method no later than 10 weeks or 70 days from the first day of her last period.
Is abortion illegal in France?
Abortion in France is legal on demand for the first 14 weeks after conception.
In which countries is abortion prohibited? Abortions are completely banned in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, and are only allowed under certain limited circumstances in most other Latin American countries.
How expensive is an abortion in France?
Abortion costs in France Surgical abortion: From € 463.25 to € 664.05 – the amounts depend on whether it is a private or public institution and local or general anesthesia.
Is abortion illegal in US states?
Abortion in the United States is governed by individual state abortion laws. In 1973, the case of Roe v. Wade brought the first abortion case to the Supreme Court which made it legal at the federal level. In 2022, it was overthrown, and abortions are once again regulated under state law.
In how many states is abortion currently illegal? Eight states – Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Wisconsin – still have pre-Roe abortion bans in their laws that may also be enforced.
What’s the new abortion law in Texas?
The Texas Heartbeat Act, Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), is an act of the Texas legislature that prohibits abortion upon detection of the heartbeat of the embryo or fetus, which usually occurs after about six weeks of pregnancy.
