Dr Rebecca Gomperts, founder of Women on Web, is a Dutch doctor who also runs a service that prescribes abortion pills to women in the United States. She says she has seen an “enormous increase” in US Americans looking to obtain abortion pills, not only when they have an unwanted pregnancy but also to have in their homes in case they get pregnant.
Abortion with pills accounted for nearly 40% of all abortions in the US in 2018, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. US states have varying rules about when and where abortion pills can be taken, and who can prescribe them. The World Health Organization says they can be safely prescribed for women to self-administer, without the direct supervision of a healthcare professional in the 1st trimester of pregnancy.
Dr Gomperts says women in the US should start getting abortion pills to keep at home to use as “preventive medication” – if and when they are needed.
If you contact Aid Access seeking an abortion, you are asked to fill out an online consultation form in which you say which US state you are located in, when your last missed period was, and if you have any other medical conditions. Aid Access may then connect you with a US-based health care provider who can prescribe pills.
In US states where abortion providers are not permitted to help, Aid Access may connect you with Rebecca Gomperts herself, who operates out of Europe. She can issue a prescription over the internet and recommend an online pharmacy outside of the United States to fill it. The pills take on average 10 to 20 days to arrive.
US consumers are not permitted to import prescription drugs from abroad, but the US Food & Drug Administration does not tend to pursue individuals who are bringing medicines into the country for personal use. Dr Gomperts says she believes she is acting within legal and ethical guidelines in all the jurisdictions where she operates.
SOURCE: CBS News, by Hauley Ott, 6 May 2022