(LifeSiteNews) – A new research article reveals that non-pregnant women stocked up on abortion pills prior to the historic overturning of Roe v. Wade.
On January 2, an academic letter was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine, titled, “Advance Provision of Mifepristone and Misoprostol via Online Telemedicine in the US.”
The paper analyzed data from Aid Access, an online organization that sells abortion pills and distributes them via United States mail in spite of an 1873 federal law banning the mailing of abortion pills. The paper found purchases of abortion pills by non-pregnant women saw a significant spike following the leaked draft opinion of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.
The May 2, 2022 leak showed the public the possibility of revoking the constitutional “right” to abortion which the Supreme Court had imposed on the country since 1973. While pro-lifers took the leak with renewed zeal, pro-abortion women apparently panicked, choosing to order abortion pills online to store at home for future use.
The research article stated that, following the leaked opinion, Aid Access received almost 250 orders for abortion pills every day. The daily requests suddenly jumped from roughly 25 each day, which was the daily average from September 2021 until May 2022.
Non-pregnant women submitted 48,404 abortion pill orders through Aid Access between September 1, 2021, and April 30, 2023. These orders were part of the so-called “advance provision” program initiated by the organization.
Aid Access describes “advanced provision” as a “service” in which women “can already order abortion pills before you are pregnant, just in case you need them in the future.” The website also claims that “providing access to abortion pills before they are needed helps people access abortions earlier in their pregnancy.”
The process is “similar” to that of ordering while pregnant but may “take longer” since pregnant women seeking to kill their already-conceived unborn children via the pills are given priority. Women can obtain chemical abortions via mail by submitting a request form and paying $150.
The JAMA report noted that “advance provision” requests were highest in states that have or were considering implementing legislation to restrict abortion and protect the unborn. One Reasons given by women who ordered the pills before becoming pregnant included wanting to maintain “reproductive autonomy” should their home states restrict abortion access. Many women who submitted “advance provision” requests reportedly had no children and were at least 30 years old.
The standard abortion pill regimen in the United States consists of two separate drugs. Mifepristone is taken first to stop the hormone progesterone from reaching the developing baby and misoprostol is taken second, to induce labor and deliver the dead child.
Data show that the abortion pill regimen can lead to life-threatening sepsis and hemorrhaging as well as significantly increased medical emergencies. The dangerous pills have been blasted by pro-life medical professionals, who cite the threat to women’s health as well as the almost certain death of their unborn babies.
Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 – which saw a significant decrease in surgical and late-term abortions across the nation – the notoriously pro-abortion Biden administration has continued to promote the deadly drugs, which are approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to end the lives of unborn children through the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Following a March 2023 lawsuit filed against the FDA for failing to properly assess the risks of the drug for the sake of furthering a political agenda, the Supreme Court agreed last month to hear the pivotal case which could upend the relaxed regulations on abortion pills.
In 2021, the FDA updated its guidance of the drugs (originally approved in 2000) to eliminate the requirement for in-person distribution. The federal agency further loosened restrictions last January, when retail pharmacies were granted permission to dispense the drugs. Previously, they were only able to be prescribed and dispensed by certified medical professionals and pharmacies.
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