Dear friend,
We have an opportunity to expand access to abortion care for millions during the coronavirus pandemic. Speak out now for abortion care for all who need it!
Here's how :
More and more healthcare providers are turning to telemedicine to ensure continued access to health care for patients while reducing the need for patients to travel to receive medical care, risking exposure to coronavirus. Both patients and doctors win in this scenario.1
Medication abortion, when a pregnant person takes two types of pills that induce an abortion before 10-12 weeks, can also be conducted under the supervision of a physician via telemedicine.2 It is a safe and effective way to broaden access to abortion care for pregnant people.3
And yet, 18 states force patients to travel to a clinician's office for medication abortion, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), despite the recommendations of medical experts including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, refuses to lift restrictions on mifepristone, one of the medications needed for medication abortion, that would enable providers to mail it to patients or prescribe it for pickup at a pharmacy.4,5
These restrictions are nothing more than ideological, anti-woman excuses to restrict access to abortion. The impact of these restrictions fall disproportionately on women of color, indigenous people, disabled people, and low-income folks. But if enough of us raise our voices and demand the FDA lift restrictions on mifepristone and that state lawmakers expand access to telemedicine for abortion, we can raise enough pressure to force the FDA and state lawmakers to expand access to abortion care and allow telemedicine ! Will you speak out by signing the petition today?
Tell the FDA and state lawmakers,
''Telemedicine abortion restrictions must end !"
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Let's be clear : Telemedicine abortion care has always been safe and effective. It shouldn't take a global pandemic for the safety and need for telemedicine abortion care to be apparent.
In a country where most communities do not have access to quality health care overall--and especially not to abortion care--the ability to work with a provider from the comfort of your own home is essential. This is even more true now, during a pandemic, when it is so much harder and less safe to travel to see a doctor in person.
Pregnant people have to make complex decisions about their health and future, even in the best of times, often having to navigate significant barriers for care or travel great distances. But these decisions can be more fraught during a crisis or public health emergency, when access can be even more difficult, and time is especially of the essence. It should be the goal of policy in these moments of crisis to expand access to health care, not arbitrarily restrict it. The FDA and state lawmakers must work to lift restrictions on telemedicine abortion care during this pandemic--and beyond it, too !
Women are on the frontlines of this pandemic as teachers, carers, grocery workers, nurses, cleaners, and so many other essential jobs.6 Women are also bearing the brunt of the economic crisis as they face layoffs or reduction in hours.7 Policy across the board needs to be made with a view of the unique contributions and needs women have during this crisis. That includes ensuring people can get the basic health care they need in the timely manner it is needed.
There is no medical or scientific reason to continue to restrict access to telemedicine abortion or mifepristone. Not. A. Single. Reason.
Thanks for speaking out !
Shaunna, Kat, Kathy, Anathea, Melody, Pam, Lindsay, Sonja, Kimberly, Maria, and Katie, the UltraViolet team.
Sources :
1. COVID-19 is normalizing telehealth, and that’s a good thing, Fast Company, April 16, 2020
2. Telemedicine Abortion: What It Is and Why We Need It Now More Than Ever, Ms., March 26, 2020
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. The Wage Gap Has Made Things Worse for Women on the Front Lines of COVID-19, National Women's Law Center, March 30, 2020
7. Women Are Losing More Jobs In Coronavirus Shutdowns, NPR, April 8, 2020
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