Thousands of women prepare for possible future restrictions on abortion access
Recent research reveals that thousands of women in the United States have been stockpiling abortion pills in anticipation of potential limitations on their access to reproductive healthcare. The demand for medication abortion, which constitutes over half of all abortions in the country, has surged in the past couple of years, particularly during periods when obtaining these medications appeared to be increasingly challenging. This information comes from a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Tuesday.
Online Service Aid Access Experiences Influx of Requests
The study focused on requests for abortion pills made by individuals who were not currently pregnant but sought to obtain the drugs for future or immediate use. These requests were made through Aid Access, a European online telemedicine service that prescribes the medication. Between September 2021 and April 2023, Aid Access received approximately 48,400 requests from various parts of the United States for what is known as “advance provision.”
Surge in Requests Following Roe v. Wade Concerns
Researchers discovered that requests for advance provision reached their highest levels right after news leaked in May 2022 that the Supreme Court was considering overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. The average number of daily requests across the nation increased almost tenfold, from approximately 25 in the eight months prior to the leak to 247 after the leak. In states where an abortion ban was imminent, the average weekly request rate rose nearly ninefold.
Dr. Abigail Aiken, one of the authors of the research letter and an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, believes that individuals are preparing for potential threats to reproductive health access and rights. “People are looking at looming threats to reproductive health access, looming threats to their reproductive rights, and potentially thinking to themselves: How can I prepare for this? Or how can I get around this or get out ahead of this?” she said.
Inequities in Access to Advance Provision
The study also highlighted disparities in who has been able to obtain abortion pills in advance. Compared to those who requested pills for current abortions, a larger proportion of individuals seeking advance provision were at least 30 years old, white, had no children, and resided in urban areas or regions with lower poverty rates. Dr. Daniel Grossman, an OB-GYN at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the research, expressed concern that advance provision is not reaching those who face the greatest barriers to abortion care. He emphasized the importance of further investigation into these inequities.
Greater Public Awareness Spurs Demand
Following the Supreme Court decision, the daily number of requests for advance provision dropped to 89 nationally. However, in April 2023, conflicting legal rulings regarding the federal approval of mifepristone led to a rise in requests to 172. Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, the director of Aid Access based in Amsterdam, attributed this increase to heightened public awareness during times of uncertainty.
Dr. Aiken noted that while Aid Access has been at the forefront of providing advance provision, other organizations have recently begun offering similar services. She emphasized that this concept is still new to many people within the U.S. healthcare system. “It will actually be news to a lot of people that it’s even something that is offered,” she stated.
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