Telemedicine abortion is a safe, affordable alternative to traditional clinic-based abortion procedures. Yet Michigan is working to ban abortion-related telemedicine. It’s a scientifically unsupported measure with one goal: make abortion less accessible. In so doing, it targets the women who stand to benefit most from telemedicine abortion—poor women, those who can’t take time off of work, and those who can’t easily travel to Michigan abortion clinics.
Michigan’s Ban on Telemedicine Abortion
Late last month, Michigan’s senate passed SB1198. The bill would make permanent a telemedicine abortion ban that has been in effect since 2012. The law requires doctors to perform physical exams on patients seeking abortion, prohibits the use of web cams as a diagnostic tool for people seeking abortions, and mandates that doctors must be physically present when an abortion drug is dispensed.
Women typically take abortion drugs at home, even when they receive the prescription in person at a clinic. So requiring a doctor to be physically present is not reasonably connected to safety. Nor is the requirement that web cams not be used or that a woman undergo a medical examination.
The Safety of Telemedicine Abortion
Researchers consistently find that telemedicine abortion is safe. A large study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology found that telemedicine abortion is as safe as medication-based abortion provided in a traditional clinical setting. Just 0.18% of telemedicine abortion patients had an adverse event that required follow-up care. That’s a complication rate far lower than that associated with other minor medical procedures, such as root canals and tooth extractions.
How Telemedicine Abortions Help Vulnerable Women
Making abortion technically legal is insufficient to ensure all women have access. Waiting periods for abortion penalize women who must repeatedly take time off of work. Clinic closures mean many women must travel long distances for abortions, requiring time off of work or expensive childcare bills. Because Medicaid does not fund abortion and many insurers don’t pay for abortion care, most abortion recipients must pay for the procedure out of pocket. For women of limited means, this can require weeks of scrimping and saving—often into the second trimester, when abortion becomes more expensive and more heavily regulated.
Michigan’s Republicans, like all Republicans seeking to make abortion less accessible, aren’t interested in women’s safety. If they were, they would affirm the critical role abortion plays in saving women’s lives and preventing poverty. This legislation, and every law like it, is about punishing women for having sex and controlling their bodies.