More than half of abortions in the United States during 2020 were done using pills as opposed to surgery, a trend that rose in concurrence with the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey released on Thursday shows.
Abortion pills accounted for 54% of all abortions in the nation, up from nearly 44% in 2019 and 39% in 2017. The Guttmacher Institute, a research group in support of abortion rights, conducted the survey and gathered information from U.S. government databases.
The novel trend for the preference of abortion medication above surgical procedures comes as pharmaceutical options for abortions have become increasingly more obtainable since 2000, when the Food and Drug Administration approved the primary drug used in medication abortions, mifepristone.
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In December, the FDA made permanent changes to a previously pandemic-related action allowing abortion pills to be mailed in order to increase ease of access. The changes have prompted as many as 16 Republican-led state legislatures to propose bans or restrictions on medication abortions, according to the Guttmacher report.
The report also cites there are 32 states in which clinicians who administer medication abortions are required to be physicians despite allowing medical professionals with alternate titles being “otherwise allowed to prescribe medications, oversee treatments and manage patients’ health.”
“As medication abortion has become the most common method of abortion, there is still the potential to further increase access — which is why the method has become a main target of anti-abortion politicians and activists seeking to restrict care,” the authors of the report said.
At least seven states have legislation pending that would ban the use of abortion medication. Five states are considering laws to prevent the mailing of abortion pills, along with eight states considering whether to block the use of telehealth to provide medication, according to Guttmacher.
Despite the FDA updating its guidance, citing a need to “reduce burden on patient access and the health care delivery system,” its decision remains subject to state laws that can criminalize the practice.
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An increase in medication abortions comes as access to abortion in the U.S. is in jeopardy of becoming limited in regards to a pair of cases the Supreme Court is expected to rule on in June. Cases stemming from states with restrictive abortion laws include Texas and Mississippi, both of which have the potential to overturn Roe v. Wade — the case that provided women with the option to have abortions.
In December, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested the Mississippi-based case presented an opportunity to reexamine Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a view shared by other members of the court’s somewhat shifting conservative bloc, which can include Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh.
