Latest news with #abortionproviders
The Guardian
11-08-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Medication abortions drove up number of US procedures after Roe's repeal, study shows
An abortion provider shipped almost 120,000 packs of abortion pills to US residents between July 2023 and August 2024 – nearly 100,000 of whom lived in states that outlaw the procedure or have laws on the books that ban the mailing of abortion pills, according to a new study published in the prestigious medical journal Jama on Monday. To the shock of experts, the number of abortions performed in the US rose in the three years since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade and paved the way for more than a dozen states to ban virtually all abortions. Much of that rise has been driven by the use of abortion pills, or medication abortion, and providers' ability to supply the pills through telehealth. US abortion providers performed 1.14m abortions in 2024 – the highest number on record in recent years, according to data from #WeCount, a Society of Family Planning project. By the end of the year, #WeCount found, a full quarter of all abortions were being facilitated through telehealth. This study, which was led by a University of Texas at Austin professor and studied shipments from the telemedicine abortion service Aid Access, more fully fleshes out the portrait of US abortion access, as it is the first to examine abortion pill provision at the county level. The poorer a county was, the more likely its residents were to order abortion pills, researchers discovered. Counties where the poverty rates hovered between 10% and 20% had provision rates that were 1.63 times higher than counties where the poverty rate was lower than 5%. In counties where the poverty rate was above 20%, the provision rate was 1.93 times higher than in richer counties. Abortion pill provision rates were also more than three times higher in states that ban abortion compared with those that do not. In states that specifically ban telemedicine abortion, the provision rates were more than twice as high. Counties that were located farther from abortion clinics were also likely to see higher rates of abortion provision. Aid Access ships to all 50 US states through the use of 'shield laws', which have been adopted by a handful of blue states in the years since the repeal of Roe. These laws aim to guard abortion providers from out-of-state prosecutions; if an abortion provider living in a state with a shield law ships pills across state lines, they are in theory protected from liability. But these laws have yet to be tested in court. Late last year, Texas sued a New York doctor over allegations that she had mailed abortion pills to a Texas woman. After the doctor, Margaret Carpenter, failed to show up for a court date, a judge ruled against her by default and ordered her pay a fine of more than $100,000. Citing New York's shield law, a New York state clerk has repeatedly refused to enforce the fine. The Texas attorney general, Republican Ken Paxton, sued the clerk in July. Experts widely expect that the dispute, which tests the relationships between states that ban abortion and those that protect it, will eventually reach the US supreme court.
The Guardian
11-08-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Medication abortions push number of procedures performed in US up since Roe's repeal, study shows
An abortion provider shipped almost 120,000 packs of abortion pills to US residents between July 2023 and August 2024 – nearly 100,000 of whom lived in states that outlaw the procedure or have laws on the books that ban the mailing of abortion pills, according to a new study published in the prestigious medical journal Jama on Monday. To the shock of experts, the number of abortions performed in the US has risen in the three years since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade and paved the way for more than a dozen states to ban virtually all abortions. Much of that rise has been driven by the use of abortion pills, or medication abortion, and providers' ability to supply the pills through telehealth. US abortion providers performed 1.14m abortions in 2024 – the highest number on record in recent years, according to data from #WeCount, a Society of Family Planning project. By the end of the year, #WeCount found, a full quarter of all abortions were being facilitated through telehealth. This study, which was led by a University of Texas at Austin professor and studied shipments from the telemedicine abortion service Aid Access, more fully fleshes out the portrait of US abortion access, as it is the first to examine abortion pill provision at the county level. The poorer a county was, the more likely its residents were to order abortion pills, researchers discovered. Counties where the poverty rates hovered between 10% and 20% had provision rates that were 1.63 times higher than counties where the poverty rate was lower than 5%. In counties where the poverty rate was above 20%, the provision rate was 1.93 times higher than in richer counties. Abortion pill provision rates were also more than three times higher in states that ban abortion compared with those that do not. In states that specifically ban telemedicine abortion, the provision rates were more than twice as high. Counties that were located farther from abortion clinics were also likely to see higher rates of abortion provision. Aid Access ships to all 50 US states through the use of 'shield laws', which have been adopted by a handful of blue states in the years since the repeal of Roe. These laws aim to guard abortion providers from out-of-state prosecutions; if an abortion provider living in a state with a shield law ships pills across state lines, they are in theory protected from liability. But these laws have yet to be tested in court. Late last year, Texas sued a New York doctor over allegations that she had mailed abortion pills to a Texas woman. After the doctor, Margaret Carpenter, failed to show up for a court date, a judge ruled against her by default and ordered her pay a fine of more than $100,000. Citing New York's shield law, a New York state clerk has repeatedly refused to enforce the fine. The Texas attorney general, Republican Ken Paxton, sued the clerk in July. Experts widely expect that the dispute, which tests the relationships between states that ban abortion and those that protect it, will eventually reach the US supreme court.
Washington Post
03-06-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Maine will let abortion-pill prescribers keep their names off labels
Health-care providers in Maine who prescribe abortion pills will be able to remove their names from the medication's label under a new law — the latest example of a Democratic-led state moving to maintain abortion access by protecting doctors, pharmacists and others authorized to dispense mifepristone and misoprostol. The statute allows providers to use their facility's name instead of their own when prescribing these drugs to end pregnancies. Medication is now used in nearly two-thirds of abortions in the United States, supplanting surgical methods. Maine already has a law shielding its abortion providers from punishment in states that ban the procedure. But the new law adds another layer of protection. State Rep. Sally Cluchey (D) sponsored the measure in response to health-care professionals telling lawmakers they feared for their safety. Her bill saw opposition from legislators in both chambers — a clash representative of the nationwide debate over how and where abortion pills can be legally prescribed. Mifepristone itself is at the center of multiple court challenges over medication abortion. And leaders in two conservative states have sought to punish out-of-state doctors who mailed abortion pills into their states, challenging provider 'shield laws' like Maine's and raising concerns about a new frontier of legal consequences. In Maine, abortion providers have faced stalkers, bomb threats and harassing online messages, Cluchey said ahead of the House's vote on the measure. She described the legislation as 'simple but essential' for providers to safely do their jobs. The state allows abortion until viability, around 24 weeks, when the fetus can survive outside the womb. 'It is our responsibility as legislators to ensure that Mainers can engage in lawful work and activities without fear of being targeted, regardless of how we feel personally about those activities,' Cluchey said. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the number of women who used abortion pills to end their pregnancies rose significantly. In cases where the pills are obtained by mail, medication abortions bypass direct involvement of a health-care provider — even in states where the procedure is severely restricted. Access to the pills themselves is banned in 17 states, limited in 10 states and legal in D.C. and 23 states, according to The Washington Post's database. The varied state laws on the pills further complicate the post-Roe landscape for abortion access, one that became more confusing for providers when a New York doctor was criminally indicted for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to a girl in Louisiana. The January indictment of physician Margaret Carpenter marked the first time an abortion provider had been prosecuted since Roe fell. Police in Louisiana learned of Carpenter from the medication's package label, which included her name. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said the state would not comply with Louisiana's warrant to extradite Carpenter. In February, Hochul also signed a measure allowing New York abortion providers to ask pharmacies to list their practice's name on pill labels rather than their own. The Maine legislation, which Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed into law on Thursday, follows that example. Washington state enacted its own measure last year, and Vermont did so last month. During debate in the Maine's Democratic-controlled legislature, some Republicans opposing the measure falsely claimed that mifepristone and other medication abortion drugs were unsafe. They urged that providers' names be required so patients could follow up should they need additional care after administering the pills. 'They should not be dispensed under a veil of secrecy,' said state Rep. Reagan Paul (R). Abortion providers have pushed back against the notion that the new measure compromises patient safety. Pharmacists will know the provider who prescribed the pills, and from them, patients can contact the facility where the provider works to ask questions about care if needed, said Evelyn Kieltyka, the senior vice president of Program Services at Maine Family Planning, which operates reproductive health care clinics. Drug labels in Maine are required to include the name, address and phone number of the pharmacy where the prescription was dispensed. 'There is absolutely no concern that a patient is not getting top notch care,' Kieltyka said. At Maine Family Planning, clinicians prescribe abortion pills only to in-person patients or, in certain cases, via telehealth after confirming that the patient is physically in the state, Kieltyka said. The group's clinics have not received specific threats, but the new law helps comfort both patients and providers in the state, she added. 'It further reassures providers that Maine's got your back,' Kieltyka said.
