Women buy abortion pills online because they have difficulty getting to an abortion clinic or because their circumstances make ordering the pills and self-administering them more appealing than going to a clinic.
“Though it may be surprising to consider, people in the United States are looking for ways to end their pregnancies at home using abortion pills they can get online,” said lead author of the July study, Abigail Aiken, Futurity reported. “Someone might decide to self-manage their own abortion either because of barriers to clinic access or because it’s a better fit for their circumstances.”
The study’s researchers conducted their report by holding 32 in-depth interviews with women who sought abortion-inducing medications online between January and June 2017. The researchers interviewed 30 women and two men who sought abortion pills for their partners in 20 different states.
In addition to asking the participants why they wanted to self-manage their abortion, the researchers also asked which abortion medication they used and if they considered any other abortion methods. (RELATED: Women In Wales Can Now Take Abortion Pills At Home)
The researchers found that access to abortion clinics was a large reason women turned to the internet for their abortions. Some states have only one abortion clinic, and women who have to drive long distances to a clinic might look for other methods to end their pregnancies.
“We know that medication abortion is extremely safe and effective when carried out with the correct doses of medications, clear instructions, and information about what to expect, and a reliable source of support and aftercare,” Aiken said, according to Futurity. “Unfortunately, most current online options leave these needs unmet,” she added, noting that most online providers of abortion pills offer the medication but not the necessary information to make the procedure safe for women attempting to abort at home.
A Guttmacher Institute February report found there were more than 200,000 searches on Google in May 2017 related to self-induced abortions.
Self-managed abortion is illegal in many states, where it is required that licensed physicians perform abortions.
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