Author: Carrie N. Baker

Carrie N. Baker, J.D., Ph.D., is the Sylvia Dlugasch Bauman professor in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College. She is a contributing editor at Ms. magazine. You can contact Dr. Baker at cbaker@msmagazine.com or follow her on Twitter @CarrieNBaker.
Courtesy of Choix

Online Abortion Providers Cindy Adam and Lauren Dubey of Choix: “We’re Really Excited About the Future of Abortion Care”

A range of telemedicine abortion providers are springing up in the U.S. in response to the removal of FDA restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone—like Cindy Adam and Lauren Dubey, nurse practitioners and owners of Choix, a virtual clinic offering asynchronous telemedicine abortion services to people in California, Colorado and Illinois.

“It feels really cool that I can do this on a day-to-day basis,” Dubey said. “Cindy and I are at the forefront of telemedicine abortion, teaching other people how to do it, helping more people to do it and exposing the world to this new type of care. It is incredibly fulfilling, not just being an abortion provider and not just doing it via telehealth, but being at the forefront of abortion care in a new way.”

Telemedicine Abortion Provider Dr. Deborah Oyer of Cedar River Clinics Supports Patient Autonomy and Control

Telemedicine Abortion Provider Dr. Deborah Oyer Supports Patient Autonomy and Control: “No Different Than When They’re in Clinic”

A range of telemedicine abortion providers are springing up in the U.S. in response to the removal of FDA restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone. Meet one provider: Dr. Deborah Oyer, the medical director of Cedar River Clinics, who has seen a 79 percent increase of medication abortion since adding telemedicine abortion, versus in-clinic only before COVID.

“I cannot begin to put into words the honor and privilege of being an abortion provider. People let me into their lives in the most intimate way. In some ways, there is a little more intimacy doing a telemedicine abortion right now versus an in-person one, because I actually get to see their unmasked faces.”

Online Abortion Provider Robin Tucker: “I’m Trying To Remove Barriers. ... It Feels Great To Be Able To Help People This Way”

Online Abortion Provider Robin Tucker: “I’m Trying To Remove Barriers. … It Feels Great To Be Able To Help People This Way”

A wide range of telemedicine abortion providers are springing up across the country in response to the recent removal of longstanding FDA restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone.

Meet one provider: Robin Tucker, a nurse practitioner of women’s health and a certified nurse midwife who offers first-trimester medication abortion by phone call, video visit or online intake forms to patients in Virginia, Maryland and Maine.

“People say, this seems too good to be true, this just seems so easy, there has to be a catch.”

is-it-legal-to-order-medication-abortion-pills-online

Is It Legal to Order Abortion Pills Online?

As abortion restrictions increase, clinics close, and the cost of abortion goes up, more and more women are ordering abortion pills online and taking them safely at home, with and without telehealth support. Traffic has spiked on the website of the abortion pill advocacy group Plan C, which shares information about how to buy abortion pills online and get them by mail in all 50 states. Over the last several months, Plan C’s website has had over 200,000 visitors with 88 percent new visitors. A quarter of them have come from Texas.

But is it legal to purchase abortion pills online?

FDA Lifts Some Abortion Pill Restrictions, Leaves Others in Place: “Ignores the Science and Smacks of Political Interference”

FDA Lifts Some Abortion Pill Restrictions, Leaves Others in Place: “Ignores the Science and Smacks of Political Interference”

On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lifted a long-standing requirement that physicians must distribute the abortion pill mifepristone to patients in person, but left in place several burdensome restrictions that continue to unnecessarily restrict and stigmatize this safe medication, say advocates. The decision came in response to a case filed by the ACLU on behalf of abortion providers and medical groups.

“It’s purely political. These pills should not only be in pharmacies, they should be available over-the-counter. But instead, years later, we’re still in a place where people think of this as a drug that is so dangerous it has to be in a black box.”

Supreme Court Refuses to Block Texas Abortion Ban—Leaving Only Slow, Arduous and Uncertain Pathways to Ending the Ban

Supreme Court Refuses to Block Texas Abortion Ban—Leaving Only Slow, Arduous and Uncertain Pathways to Ending the Ban

On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to block a clearly-unconstitutional abortion ban in Texas, leaving in place S.B. 8, which bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy—before many women even know they are pregnant.

“It’s stunning that the Supreme Court has essentially said that federal courts cannot stop this bounty-hunter scheme enacted to blatantly deny Texans their constitutional right to abortion,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “For 100 days now, this six-week ban has been in effect, and today’s ruling means there is no end in sight. Pregnant people will continue to live in a state of panic and uncertainty.”

N.Y. Lawmakers and Activists Speak Out for Abortion Rights and Reproductive Justice: “If We Cannot Control Our Own Bodies, There Is No Democracy”

N.Y. Lawmakers and Activists Speak Out for Abortion Rights and Reproductive Justice: “If We Cannot Control Our Own Bodies, There Is No Democracy”

“If we cannot control our own bodies, there is no democracy. That is the requisite of every democracy,” said Gloria Steinem at a press conference organized by Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) with New York political leaders and reproductive rights advocates in front of Planned Parenthood Manhattan Health Center in New York City on Monday. 

Facebook Profits from Anti-Abortion Misinformation While Suppressing Medically Accurate Abortion Facts

Facebook Profits from Anti-Abortion Misinformation While Suppressing Medically Accurate Abortion Facts

Social media companies are circulating anti-abortion groups’ unproven and potentially dangerous “abortion pill reversal” theory, while at the same time blocking factual information about abortion pills from reproductive health groups.

“Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram are hiding vital, accurate information about abortion pills—and we won’t stand for it.”