Amid a national furor over access to abortion, a new study found that dispensing abortion pills though mail-order pharmacies worked as effectively as requiring patients to obtain medication in person at a clinic or physician’s office.
The researchers analyzed the experiences of 510 women in 11 clinics in seven states who received mifepristone, which blocks a hormone needed to continue a pregnancy, and another drug called misoprostol, which is used a day or two later to cause contractions. Overall, 91.2% of the women reported being satisfied with medication abortion and fewer than 1% suffered serious adverse events.
Nearly 98% of the women had complete abortions with no adverse events. More than 85% received the medication within one to three days, which 94% of the women described as reasonable. Moreover, 97% reported being satisfied with mail-order dispensing and almost all said their confidentiality during shipping and delivery was maintained, according to the study, which was published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
