Holy moly! Just when we thought the start of 2021 couldn’t get any wilder, the Supreme Court had one more surprise in store for abortion providers. As you may be aware, this week the justices reinstated the medically unnecessary restrictions on mifepristone that require people to pick up mifepristone in person from a health center, rather than having it mailed to their home. While we were appalled by this decision, especially at the height of a global pandemic, carafem is committed to continuing to provide at home abortion pill options for clients that are not able or choose not to travel to a health center for care.
The good news: we still have many options for clients who choose at home abortion pills, including participation in the Gynuity Health Projects study. We also offer an alternative that does not require mailing mifepristone and medication pick-up is available if you live near one of our health centers in the DC, Atlanta, Chicago, and Nashville areas. Give us a call at 1-855-SAY-CARA and together we’ll help work it out!
The bottom line is this: carafem will not turn away any clients due to this ruling and our virtual doors remain open in several states.
“Let us be clear, this ruling needlessly complicates the provision of a common medication that has been safely used at home by millions of people around the world for over 20 years. We vow to continue to offer ways to provide abortion care through telemedicine with alternate delivery strategies that are not impacted by this ruling. This requirement in no way makes medication abortion safer, rather it only serves to delay care and needlessly requires face to face contact during a pandemic, to pick up a medication that is taken in the safety and privacy of one’s home,” Melissa Grant, Chief Operations Officer, carafem.
In 2020, carafem provided over 900 at home abortions, with appointments quickly filling and booking up as soon as we opened them. We served clients in Illinois, Maryland, Georgia, Virginia, and the District of Columbia with rapid expansion plans in place as we raise funds in tandem. Click here to learn more about our at-home abortion pill options.
Thank you for your support, which makes our work to expand abortion access in these challenging times possible. We’ll keep you updated as we hear feedback from clients about these options and continue to plan for next steps. We’re also keeping fingers crossed for President Biden to lift these restrictions once in office.
In times of uncertainty and possibly a great deal of change, carafem is committed as always to using innovative solutions to ensure people can exercise their right to quality reproductive health care. We’re pleased to offer clients the abortion care they need, whenever they need it. Schedule an appointment online or by calling 1-855-SAY-CARA.
