Georgia lawmakers push to end mailing of abortion pills
Published 10:34 pm Wednesday, February 9, 2022
- A pro-abortion rally was held in Jackson, Mississippi Nov. 1, the day the U.S. Supreme Court heard the case of the state's only abortion clinic seeking to overturn the Mississippi's new law which bans abortions after 15 weeks. Photo by Scott Crawford
ATLANTA — Telemedicine became a widely used service during the pandemic, but Georgia lawmakers want to return to requiring a woman to be in-person for abortion services.
Georgia’s Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday voted 7-5 to approve the “Women’s Health and Safety Act,” which would prevent the mailing of abortion pills after a telemedicine visit.
Early last year, the FDA modified requirements for getting the pill from in-person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The modification removed the requirement that the pill could only be dispensed in certain health care facilities, and allowed for the pill to be dispensed by certified medical facilities via mail.
The proposed Senate Bill 456 states that qualified physicians providing an abortion-inducing drug must examine the woman in-person and perform an ultrasound and other “check lists,” including verifying the pregnancy and the woman’s blood type.
The providing physician must also inform the patient that she “may see the remains of her unborn child in the process of completing the abortion,” the bill states.
A follow up visit must also be scheduled within seven to 14 days after the pill is taken to confirm the termination of the pregnancy and perform any further assessment. The abortion pill, Mifeprex, can be taken up until 10 weeks of pregnancy.
“The drugs were never intended to be provided without the direct involvement and continued supervision of a health care worker,” said Republican Sen. Bruce Thompson, the bill’s sponsor. “Providing these drugs through the mail without the woman being properly examined puts the woman in unnecessary harm.”
Thompson argued that in-person visits allow physicians to verify pregnancy, diagnose ectopic pregnancies and provide surgical intervention in the case of an incomplete abortion or severe bleeding. He added that mailing the pills doesn’t provide chain of custody to ensure they’re delivered to the intended recipient.
Approximately 20 states‚ including Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee— require the prescribing physician to be in the physical presence of the patient when the pill is administered, thus prohibiting telemedicine abortion.
During Wednesday’s hearing on the Georgia bill, there appeared to be mixed reactions among female health care professionals.
Some argued that mailing the abortion pill poses no risk to patients and that the bill is an overreach into the medical field, and others called the mailing of abortion pills without physical assessment “reckless.”
Opponents say the bill would restrict access to health care for women, especially low-income women who may face obstacles getting to a clinic.
