Telehealth Providers Prepare for the Future

Providers of reproductive and gender-affirming care have long been pushing for an increase in the use of telemedicine. Patients want it too. Telehealth implementation comes with decreased costs, wait times and travel. For stigmatized issues like abortion and gender-affirming care, it also ensures patients and providers alike face less harassment and makes niche treatments more widely accessible.

To understand the telehealth landscape and how it impacts reproductive care, Ms. spoke with telehealth abortion, contraceptive, and gender-affirming care providers to understand how the fall of Roe has affected their work.

Self-Managed Abortions Soar Post-Dobbs

Reported abortions have drop sharply post-Dobbs, while self-managed abortion numbers soar. Many Americans, especially those living in the most restrictive states, have turned to telemedicine abortion which can be shipped to all 50 states from abroad.

Telemedicine Abortion, Explained: The Ms. Q&A with Choix’s Cindy Adam

As abortion bans mount in states across the country in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion seekers in states where the procedure is banned are increasingly turning to online telemedicine providers.

“It really helps to alleviate the stress and the barriers that come with accessing such a highly stigmatized and politicized form of care, even in the states where abortion care remains legal,” said Cindy Adam, co-founder and CEO of Choix, of telemedicine abortion. “It puts that power to decide back into the hands of the person seeking care.”

Abortion How-To: The Ms. Q&A on Menstrual Extraction With Carol Downer

Before Roe v. Wade, one of the ways women bypassed the medical system to get necessary abortions was a technique feminists called “menstrual extraction,” using a syringe, flexible plastic tubing and a mason jar to extract the contents of the uterus.

Ms. spoke with activist Carol Downer about her experiences teaching people to perform menstrual extractions and how the procedure could help post-Roe.

“How in the world can that Supreme Court sit up there and deny this thing to us? How can they get away with that? You can guarantee that Amy Coney Barrett has not seen her own cervix.”

Abortion Pill FAQs: Get the Facts About Medication Abortion

The release of the draft Supreme Court opinion overturning abortion rights has left many people wondering about continued access to abortion. Reproductive rights advocates have been working hard to create an infrastructure of information and support for accessing and using abortion pills, no matter what happens when the Supreme Court issues its final ruling.

Here’s an easy guide to information about abortion pills.

Kelly’s Story: Overcoming S.B. 8 and a ‘Crisis Pregnancy Center’ to Have an Abortion in Texas

Through ingenuity, persistence and a little luck, some Texans are wading through the state’s six-week abortion ban and a sea of anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” to find abortion healthcare in a safe and affordable way. Kelly is one of them.

“My heart goes out to those women who feel like they have no choice and they get swindled into this. I really want to prevent that from happening. … I’m telling my story because I had no idea about these ‘pregnancy health clinics.’ Women should not feel obligated to keep a pregnancy. I don’t think those women at CPCs should be saying, ‘Oh, I’m here to help women.’ They’re not helping if they’re making women feel bad for their decisions, period.”

Online Abortion Care Provider Hanna Kim of Hey Jane: ‘Everything Is Done in Your Own Time’

Hey Jane provides medication abortion for anyone who is at least 18 years old, medically eligible, up to 10 weeks pregnant, and located in New York, California, Washington, Illinois, Colorado or New Mexico.

“Doctor’s appointments can be very difficult to get. With Hey Jane, we can get medication to patients in like a day.” Hanna Kim, lead nurse for Hey Jane, told Ms. “Patients feel really cared for. I remember one email that said, ‘I felt like I was talking to a mom or a sister who had all the answers.'”

Dr. April Lockley Answers Your Questions About Abortion Pills: ‘To Protect Each Other As Much As We Can’

April Lockley

The Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline (M+A Hotline) was founded in 2019 by two primary care physicians who knew people were self-managing their abortions at home but often had questions and would go to the internet looking for answers. Dr. April Lockley is a family medicine physician in New York City and medical director of the M+A Hotline (1-833-246-2632).

“Since the beginning of time, people and communities have taken care of themselves without going to the doctor because of how the system is set up. It’s inequitable. It’s racist. And so people have always taken care of themselves. We’re a support to say, ‘This process is going as it should.'”