Three-quarters of mail requests for abortion pills came from states with strict anti-abortion laws
Revealed: 21,000 US women order abortion pills online in past six months
Three-quarters of mail order requests came from states with strict anti-abortion laws
Thousands of American women have obtained abortion pills online in the past six months, according to figures that highlight the escalating difficulty in accessing safe abortions on the ground.
Data shared with the Guardian reveals that 21,000 women requested abortion medication between October 2018 and March this year from the charity Aid Access. Between a third and a half of the women who made the requests were then sent abortion pills in the mail. The majority of the recipients live in states with hostile abortion policies.
Women who obtained pills online described desperation at being unable to access affordable medical services locally, with some saying they had considered extreme measures to end their pregnancies.
The reality on the ground is already so desperate, said Rebecca Gomperts, founder of Aid Access, which provides online prescriptions for abortion pills that are dispatched to the US by mail. If a woman cannot access a normal abortion in the US they will do anything to end their pregnancy.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/22/revealed-21000-us-women-order-abortion-pills-in-six-months