Since October 2020, Just the Pill has provided more than 2,500 telemedicine consultations with physicians to supply abortion pills by mail to patients in Colorado, Minnesota, Montana and Wyoming. In a few days, it plans to roll out in Colorado the first of what will become “a fleet of mobile clinics” to park at state borders, offering consultations for drug abortions and pill dispensing, said Dr. Julie Amaon, director medical organization.
Called the “Abortion Delivered,” the wheeled clinic program, which will also offer surgical abortions for patients who prefer it or who are too advanced in pregnancy for a drug abortion, is designed to reach patients from nearby states. such as Texas, Oklahoma and South Dakota, which quickly banned abortion after the court ruling, as well as other states like Utah that are expected to ban or drastically restrict abortion.
“By operating at state borders, we will reduce the travel loads of patients in states with severe prohibitions or limits,” Dr. Amaon said. “And by going beyond a traditional clinic, our mobile clinics can quickly adapt to courts, state legislatures and markets, going wherever the need arises.”
Providers of abortion with similar drugs are also planning an influx. Hey Jane, an organization that has cared for nearly 10,000 patients in California, Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, New York and Washington, plans to expand to more states. “We have increased our team to accommodate this significant increase in demand,” said its CEO, Kiki Freedman.
Anti-abortion groups are trying to counter the rising interest in drug-induced abortion by claiming it is unsafe, calling it a “chemical abortion.” James Studnicki, vice president of data analysis at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an arm of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said Friday that “the safety of the abortion pill is greatly exaggerated” and described the increase in drug abortion “a serious threat to public health.”
Much is still unknown about how states banning all or most abortions will try to enforce their laws in drug abortion cases. But as the Biden administration struggled to react to the court ruling, two cabinet members quickly issued statements promising to protect the right to take drugs that had been approved by the federal government.