JAMA Study shows telehealth abortion scripts just as effective as in-person ones
The in-person requirement from the FDA may be reinstated under Republican administration
A new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that there is no marked difference between the effectiveness and safety of abortion medication that is distributed through telehealth versus in-person dispensing.
The paper, Comparison of No-Test Telehealth and In-Person Medication Abortion, was co-authored by Dr. Lauren J. Ralph., Dr. C. Finley Baba, and Dr. M Antonia Biggs. It was published this week. I spoke with Ralph about her findings.
“Our findings provide good evidence that this model of care should be offered as an option to pregnant people seeking abortion,” Ralph said.
The goal of the study was to test two models of receiving abortion medication. The first was a no-test, telehealth abortion. Then, the other were patients who received an ultrasound before getting the pills.
The study found that medication abortion obtained following no-test telehealth screening and mailing of medications was associated with similar rates of complete abortion compared with in-person care with ultrasonography (94.4% vs. 93.3%, respectively) with a low prevalence of adverse events.
They started recruiting the study subjects in May 2021, when the Food and Drug Administration removed the in-person dispensing requirements for abortion medication.
“The findings of our study add to the body of evidence showing that these models are effective and safe overall,” Ralph said. “And so I think that suggests that they should be made available to all those who are interested in them in this model.”
In the aftermath of the presidential debate, we have to think of the manner and methods by which a Republican president would limit abortion. Trump said during the debate that he wouldn’t ban medication abortion or rescind its approval. But could he reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement?
That would, in effect, require women in abortion-restrictive states to have to travel to areas to get the pill. With that comes waiting periods, expensive lodging, and costs that would strain abortion funds.
This study is good evidence to support an argument for maintaining the status quo and permitting telehealth prescriptions of mifepristone and misoprostol.