A new piece by Abigail Aiken for the Washington Post Perspective section entitled “The next normal: The future of medication abortion is at home” examines the possible transformations of at-home medication abortion.
The essay discusses how state-level restrictions have “sparked innovation in where and how people access the medication.” Aid Access, the first online telemedicine service to provide self-managed medication abortion to people living in the United States, was launched in 2018 and operates outside of the formal healthcare system. Furthermore, in some states, the formal healthcare system adapted during COVID-19 and increased telemedicine and mail-based services for abortion care.
Discussing how uneven access to at-home medication abortion is via the formal healthcare system throughout the United States, the piece concludes: “Will we accept a two-tiered system based on Zip code, where some have access to at-home services through the health-care system while others must risk criminalization, or can we envision a future where a full spectrum of options are equally accessible to all? At-home medication abortion is here to stay. The question is: in what form?”