If you are a doctor or advance practice clinician, you may have an opportunity to provide at-home abortion services during COVID-19 depending on your location.
Right now, under the blanket of COVID-19, a new wave of support for deregulating and demedicalizing access to abortion pills is gaining ground with policy makers, clinicians, and advocates, all of whom are eager to broaden access to this effective technology that can be safely accessed and used at home, with no in-person visit.
Evidence-based "no-test” protocols that allow for at-home abortions, with no requirement for an in-person visit, ultrasound, or blood work, are being widely adopted as the new standard of care, endorsed by the National Abortion Federation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Reproductive Health Access Project, and others.
These are big shifts, opening up new opportunities for clinicians to offer a safe, modern, convenient model of care: a supported, at-home abortion, with medications delivered to one’s door.
At this moment in history, we have a unique opportunity to address the structural inequities of our healthcare system and serve those in need of affordable, accessible abortion care using telemedicine and mailed pills.
In July 2020, three months into the pandemic, and in response to a case filed by American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) and other organizations, a federal court blocked FDA’s enforcement of a restriction that requires the in-person dispensing of mifepristone.
In June 2020, a new medical protocol for medication abortion was introduced: Gynuity led the collaborative development of a sample protocol for providing medication abortion without any routine facility-based tests either before or after treatment.
From Gynuity: We expect that the no-test approach will continue to be beneficial after the epidemic ends, by decreasing cost and enhancing convenience and comfort of medical abortion and by facilitating new service delivery approaches that can increase access to this essential health care.
In March 2020, California's Attorney General Javier Becerra led a multistate coalition in sending a letter to the FDA requesting they remove REMS restrictions or waive enforcement of them during the COVID-19 pandemic's nationwide stay-at-home orders.
Disclaimer:
This is not legal or medical advice and does not substitute for the representation of an attorney or the advice of a doctor. No attorney client relationship has been formed by reviewing this material. Plan C provides research-based information about sources of abortion pills but does not endorse the services listed in our Guide to Finding Pills.
