Medical Abortion Care During a Pandemic

Abstract

In keeping with federal policy, our state’s laws do not permit medical abortion via telemedicine, not even during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, a decision that endangers the lives of women, clinical staff, nurses, and doctors. It also ties dedicated professionals to the clinic instead of being available to emergency rooms, bedsides, and intensive care units, knowing if their clinic doors close vulnerable women may be driven to desperate acts. Instead of 6 feet we could have been 3000 miles apart. Nearly 39% of abortions in the United States are medical abortions. Instructions, medication prescriptions, and routine follow-up can all be safely done remotely. When an examination or ultrasound are necessary, it can be accomplished with minimal staff and patient exposure. Instead, I am caught in a Kafkaesque moment in an already surreal time. Making medical abortion part of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic could save the lives of women, nurses, staff, and doctors. Maybe yours, maybe even mine.