Mail-order abortion pills see surging sales in US

Demand for birth control pills has surged in the United States despite a push from some lawmakers to crack down on mail-order abortion medication.

Telehealth groups Hey Jane, Just The Pill and Choix said they have received more web traffic, appointment requests and payments from patients in states that allow them to operate since the Supreme Court removed the federal protection to abortion on June 24.

Some groups encourage patients in states that restrict abortion to travel to states where patients can get the pills legally, while other organizations have helped raise money to pay for their travel.

Hey Jane, a virtual clinic offering medication abortion services, experienced an almost tenfold surge in website traffic and a twofold increase in patient demand after the Supreme Court decision, CEO Kiki Freedman said.

In a statement to China Daily, Freedman said the telehealth group is "more than prepared" to accommodate the increase in demand as it has been "preparing for this reality for months".

"This spike in interest demonstrates to us that people are increasingly curious about telemedication abortion as it becomes an exceptionally viable option in the wake of Roe's overturn," Freedman said.

Abortion medication is poised to become the next battleground as more women turn to pills as a way to terminate a pregnancy after the Supreme Court decision.

However, as such companies seek to expand across state lines to meet the rapidly growing demand, many states that have outlawed abortions are also moving to restrict medication abortions and the use of telemedicine for abortion.

South Dakota's Governor Kristi Noem said on CBS' Face the Nation in June that she would bar mail-order abortion pills in her state and prosecute doctors who prescribe the pills online. "We don't believe it should be available, because it is a dangerous situation for those individuals without being medically supervised by a physician," she said.

Mifepristone, taken together with misoprostol, is an abortion regimen approved by the Food and Drug Administration that is used for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Safety claims

"Throughout the more than 20 years that it has been used in the United States, medication abortion has been proven to be overwhelmingly safe and effective," the organization's researchers noted, citing a 2021 study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

The study tracked patients who had medication abortion care provided by Choix and concluded that 95 percent of the 110 patients had a complete abortion without intervention.

Choix is continuing to see 50 percent more patients after experiencing a 600 percent increase in website traffic the day Roe v. Wade was reversed, CEO Cindy Adam told China Daily.

The company is licensed to serve in California, Colorado, Illinois and New Mexico. State residency is not required to access care, but patients do need to be in the states that Choix serves for their telehealth visits and to receive medication, Adam said.