Aiken’s Analysis of Abortion and the Implications for Reproductive Health Care in the U.S. with the Supreme Court and the ACOG
Aiken’s study shows that demand for abortion pills made by women who weren’t yet pregnant spiked during events when reproductive health care access appeared under threat. The US will face its next big test for reproductive freedom in 2020, when the US Supreme Court hears a case challenging access to one of the two drugs used in abortion. If the court sides with the anti-abortion activists who brought the case against the US Food and Drug Administration, medication abortion access may be in jeopardy nationwide. More people will likely start stocking up with this potential dangerous change on the horizon.
In advance provision, a standard regimen is used for abortion involving two drugs. The pills are provided to patients who are not yet pregnant but believe they may at some point wish to access abortion pills.
She says that requests go up quickly. “So it seems possible that people are really responding to the threat of reduced abortion access.”
The spring of 2023 saw the same increase in the number of lawsuits challenging access to mifepristone. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on that case next year.
In response to a request for comment on Aiken’s analysis, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) described mifepristone as “a very safe and effective drug,” and said the data suggest that “people are worried about needing abortion care and being unable to access it in the future due to abortion bans. While some people may be able to travel to states where that care is legal, others simply cannot.”
Patients cannot access it and clinicians cannot prescribe it in advance because of federal health regulations.
Nonetheless, Aid Access founder Dr. Rebecca Gomperts said in an email to NPR that some U.S.-based physicians living in states that have enacted protections for providers known as “shield laws” are prescribing the pills in advance. Gomperts said the medication has a shelf life of “at least two years as long as the blister pack is kept sealed, and is not exposed to heat, light, or moisture.”
Getting Ready for What’s Coming: Increasing Healthcare Costs in the U.S., Increasing Accessibility and Implications for Families
“The biggest increases seem to be in states where there’s potential legislation coming,” she says. “It looks like people are reacting to the potential threat by saying ‘Oh, I better get prepared for what might be coming’.” “
“We know people cannot afford abortions even if they need them,” she says. “So it might be a very different financial calculus, and these financial barriers might loom large for people.”