OAN’s Brooke Mallory
6:32 PM – Wednesday, March 20, 2024
More than 60% of abortions performed in the U.S. last year were medication-assisted, up from 53% in 2020, according to recent statistics.
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The Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that advocates for abortion rights, estimates that approximately 642,700 medical abortions were performed in the first full year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. reported that it was done. The U.S. health care system also utilized medication for 63% of abortions.
The data comes a week before the high court hears arguments in a case that could affect a woman’s access to mifepristone, which is typically used in combination with another pill in medical abortions. It was announced on Tuesday.
“For example, in some states, at least health care providers can now mail mifepristone to people at home,” said Guttmacher researcher Rachel Jones. “This saves patients transportation costs and time off from work.”
Abortion pills shipped to individuals in areas where abortion is illegal and self-administered medication abortions performed outside the health care system are not included in Guttmacher’s data, which is collected by calling abortion providers. do not have.
The coronavirus pandemic and the Roe v. Wade reversal have “really opened the door” to medical abortions through telemedicine, said Dr. Grace Ferguson, a Pittsburgh-based abortion doctor.
Mr. Ferguson is not affiliated with this particular study.
Ferguson noted that in areas where abortion was still legal, “telemedicine was a really good way to accommodate that increase,” as more patients were traveling from states with stricter abortion laws. He said that he started coming.
The number of medical abortions has gradually increased since the Food and Drug Administration legalized mifepristone in 2000, according to Guttmacher’s data. By blocking the hormone progesterone, this drug prompts the uterus to respond to the contraction-inducing effects of another drug, misoprostol.
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