Commentary

Empowering women through self-managed abortion

Publish date: December 4, 2018

Access barriers: The complexity and number of legal restrictions to abortion care have made it unavailable/unaffordable through traditional clinic visits in many parts of the United States. With the addition of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, restrictions are likely to increase.
Safety: The evidence-based assessment of the World Health Organization is that in-person clinical evaluation is unnecessary if the appropriate checklists, educational information, and access to a provider are available.
Autonomy and equity: Even without the barriers mentioned above, self-managed telemedicine abortion remains a patient-centered option. Often more accessible and less expensive, inherently more private, it is bound to appeal to many women.

Dr. Anwar Jackson

This decade has seen unprecedented challenges to comprehensive safe reproductive health care, with no relief in sight. In the decades prior to Roe v. Wade, illegal abortions were responsible for 20% of all maternal mortality in the United States. As government, national medical organizations, and the public become more aware of our intolerably high maternal mortality rate, these actors are increasingly driven to bring our maternal health to parity with our industrialized peers. Restricting access to safe abortion runs counter to that goal. Two hundred forty years of American history teach us that legal restrictions do not prevent abortions, because they do not eliminate the reasons for which women seek abortion. Legal restrictions do, however, prevent women from ending pregnancies in the safest manner possible. The inability to obtain safe abortions invariably leads to dead women – our mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives. In this country’s harsh political climate, we must protect a woman’s right to choose. By advocating for innovative approaches to protect women’s reproductive choices, we empower women and save lives.

Dr. Anwar is an obstetrician/gynecologist at Michigan State University in Flint and Dr. Espey is professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Neither of them have conflicts of interest. Email them at obnews@mdedge.com.