USA: Number Of Self-Managed Medical Abortions Increased Substantially Following Revocation Of Federal Right To Abortion

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A new study shows that the number of US women who had self-managed medical abortions increased by nearly 28,000 in the six months following the US Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision to revoke the federal right to abortion up to viability through its decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization.’

Titled ‘Provision of Medications for Self-Managed Abortion Before and After the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization Decision,’ the study was published by the JAMA network on Mar. 25.

Numerous Republican-led US states immediately banned abortion or implemented 6-week gestational limits following the Dobbs ruling. As a result, JAMA reports, around 32,360 fewer abortions were carried by physicians in clinics and hospitals.

At the same time, between July-December 2022 the number of medical abortions carried out by women at home far exceeded the pre-Dobbs level. “In the 6-month post-Dobbs period (July 1 to December 31, 2022), the total number of provisions of medications for self-managed abortion increased by 27 838 (95% credible interval [CrI], 26 374-29 175) vs what would have been expected based on pre-Dobbs levels,” the study authors said.

“Accounting for nonuse of medications, actual self-managed medication abortions increased by an estimated 26 055 (95% CrI, 24 739-27 245) vs what would have been expected had the Dobbs decision not occurred,” the JAMA report reads.

“Results suggest that a substantial number of abortion seekers accessed services despite the implementation of state-level bans and restrictions,” the study concludes.

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