Just a day before the U.S. Supreme Court indicated it is likely to allow the abortion medication mifepristone to remain widely available, researchers published a study that found provisions for medications used for self-managed abortion increased after the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling.
“Provision of medications for self-managed abortion in the US increased in the 6 months after Dobbs. A substantial number of people accessed abortion medications despite implementation of state-level bans and restrictions,” said the study published Monday in the JAMA journal.
According to SCOTUSBlog, arguments about mifepristone Tuesday were the first time Supreme Court justices considered efforts to restrict abortion since the controversial Dobbs decision in 2022. After Dobbs, 21 states either banned or limited access to abortion and medication abortions now account for more than half of the abortions in the U.S.
Researchers who authored the recent study said that self-managed abortion increased by an estimated 26,055 more than expected in the 6 months after Dobbs. They gathered data from sources that provided abortion medications outside the formal health care setting to people in the U.S. between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2022. These included online telemedicine organizations, community networks, and online vendors.
“It is possible that our estimate may undercount the true number of provisions of medications for self-managed abortion during the post-Dobbs period,” said the researchers. “Indeed, we expected this to be the case: while we have tried to be as comprehensive as possible, not all sources of abortion medication outside the formal health care setting could be included.”
While the Dobbs ruling allowed states to put restrictions on abortions – for example, Kansas lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that would require abortion providers to ask their patients why they want to terminate their pregnancies and then report the answers to the state – Kaiser Family Foundation polling shows that most Americans don’t think lawmakers should make decisions about abortions.
“The public overwhelmingly thinks decisions about abortions should be made by women in consultation with their health care providers (80%), while 19% say lawmakers should make decisions about when abortions should be available and under what conditions,” said a summary of poll results released this month. “The share who say the decision-making should fall to women remains unchanged since the Dobbs decision and includes large majorities of Democrats (94%) and independents (81%), and most Republicans (62%).”
Additionally, KFF found there was broad support among partisans for protecting abortion access for patients experiencing pregnancy-related emergencies and protecting patients’ right to travel to access abortions. Two thirds of the public support a law guaranteeing a federal right to abortion, though more than half of Republicans oppose the idea.
“Clinicians should be prepared to meet the needs of patients who may be considering self-managed medication abortion or who need or want to connect with the formal health care setting for postabortion care,” said authors of the recent study. Audacy previously reported on research that indicates telehealth abortions are as safe as in-person abortions.