While I wasn’t paying attention, this Substack somehow became a year old! So that’s nice.
On Friday, May 1st, a federal court of appeals blocked the mailing of mifepristone, one element of medication abortion. As of this writing (Monday, May 4th), the ability to mail mife has been temporarily reinstated. Let’s take a look at what that means.
This latest attempt to erode access to safe abortion has all the trappings of what we’ve seen so far: change things quickly, then change things again so people don’t know what’s going on and are afraid to make a move. It also amplifies the stigma around self-managed abortion - if there wasn’t something wrong with these pills, why would lawmakers continually try to ban using them? - and around telemedicine. In late 2024/early 2025, 27% of abortions were conducted via telemedicine, half of which were conducted by providers in states with shield laws, which protect clinicians who mail pills into states with bans/restrictions.
Abortion pills are safe and effective. They don’t need to be prescribed by a doctor, and there are lots of resources with directions on how to take them and what to expect when you do. If mifepristone can’t be obtained by mail, that means people have to either a) travel to get them - causing a whole host of issues for those who live in rural areas, ban states, are low income, and/or in a situation where they need to conceal their abortion for issues of safety, b) get an abortion in a clinic, c) obtain the pills from an organization like AidAccess, or d) have an abortion via misoprostol, which is still legal to mail.
In all of these situations, there’s a ticking clock, as well as stress, confusion, anxiety, fear, and maybe feelings of loneliness, isolation, and shame, and under those circumstances, “choice” ceases to be a real concept.
Action item: Don’t stop following this in the news, it’s not going to go away, although it might go dormant/hide within something else. Keep it in front of people via social media, and talk about the safety and efficacy of abortion pills, as well as the need for them to be available via mail.
Next time: The teens (for real this time, I think.)