Medication Abortion Is Key to the Future of Abortion Access
Everyone, regardless of income, zip code, and status, should be able to decide what kind of care best fits their needs without fear, shame, and unnecessary restrictions.
Research demonstrates that with pills from reliable sources, accurate information and back-up care in the rare circumstances it is needed, people can self-manage their abortion—empowering individuals to make autonomous choices about their own reproductive health and increasing access to safe, effective abortion care options that fit their personal circumstances.
In 2019, abortion opponents doubled down on their efforts to restrict access to abortion care. Lawmakers in 17 states enacted more than 50 arbitrary restrictions that closed reproductive health clinics, jeopardized patient care, and made abortion less accessible.
Across the country, the anti-abortion movement continues to shame, pressure, and punish people who understand that abortion is a human right.
At this moment, it’s difficult to believe that the government or the courts will protect our freedom to obtain an abortion. In this political climate, and recently at the request of over 200 lawmakers, it’s easy to imagine a future without the federal protections that Roe v. Wade guarantees.
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For nearly two decades, nearly three million people have ended their pregnancy with medication abortion. Self-managing an abortion consists of two sets of pills to be taken at or under ten weeks after the first day of a person’s last period: The first, mifepristone, blocks the hormone essential to advancing pregnancy. In the following 24 to 48 hours, the person takes the second medication, misoprostol, to empty the uterus.
Since its inception, however, the method has been met with protest and seen outdated and medically unnecessary restrictions based on politics, not science. These laws prevent health-care providers from prescribing medication abortion like any other prescription drug, which the patient can fill at a local pharmacy.
That’s why advocates like us are talking to communities, in-person and online, about the potential of self-managed medication abortion. Medication abortion does not need to be a backup plan when restrictive abortion policies result in clinic closures or raised costs. It can and should be an option for whatever reason for anyone who wants it—whether they can’t get to a clinic or simply want more privacy or need the flexibility to balance work and childcare.
We created videos to raise awareness of self-managed abortion, the opportunities it presents, and the obstacles to access. One video, titled “Times Have Changed,” demonstrates why we need to take another look at our misperceptions of self-managed abortion because of its strong safety record. “Home” speaks to the reality that we want control over our personal health-care decisions, and a medication abortion can give us that option to make the most personal decision in our own space. And “An Abortion on 16th Street” and “Abortion on Ocean Drive” force us to question the common misconceptions of abortion as a complex procedure and show that each person can take control. These videos recognize the progress of the past five decades and demonstrate the medical possibilities of today and tomorrow.
It’s time to make our voices heard and center communities that are disproportionately impacted by barriers to abortion access. We must pressure the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to get rid of the medically unnecessary regulations that make it hard for people to access medication abortion pills. And we must hold our lawmakers accountable and demand they repeal laws that could be used to criminalize people who self-manage their abortions.
