A major rule change from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to make abortion induced by medicine, rather than surgery, more common and easier to obtain for women in areas of the country without nearby clinics.

Under the new rule, women who are prescribed abortion medication will only have to visit the doctor twice, instead of three times. The agency also lowered the required dosage of mifepristone from 600 mg to 200 mg, a change that some say will make medical abortions more attractive because the smaller dosage will mean fewer painful side effects.

Even before the FDA announcement, abortion rights advocates were hoping that technological innovation could reduce the impact of the recent wave of state laws that have sought — and in many cases succeeded — to shut down abortion practices.

For many women in rural America, even in states that have not been subject to Republican-led anti-abortion laws, getting to a consultation is a major challenge financially and logistically.

Telemedicine could make it much easier for women in areas without nearby clinics to obtain abortions, particularly through the increased use of medical abortions, which currently account for a quarter of all pregnancy terminations.

In an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a group of doctors, led by Dr. Elizabeth Raymond of Gynuity Health Projects in New York, argued that connecting with patients via teleconference and video conferences will make it easier for doctors to prescribe medical abortions.

“The use of telemedicine is growing,” Raymond told Reuters. “It has tremendous potential to make many essential services more accessible, more convenient and cheaper. Medical abortion is such a service.”

The solution is far from fool-proof politically. Republicans in Wisconsin passed a law in 2012, for instance, that sought to reduce “web cam abortions” by requiring that a physician be in the room when a patient takes abortion-inducing drugs. The law is currently being challenged in court.

In recent years, a number of GOP-controlled state governments have imposed restrictions on abortion providers ostensibly aimed at closing clinics but justified by anti-abortion advocates as necessary to improve the safety of women. Two of the most common such policies are requiring abortion doctors to have hospital admitting privileges and requiring clinics to be full ambulatory surgical centers.

Medical authorities, such as the American Medical Association, have consistently said that such restrictions are unnecessary and do little to advance women’s health and safety.

Instant Insights /

Telemedicine offers hope for abortion rights advocates

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