How to get abortion pills online?
People Are Getting Creative Obtaining Abortion Pills Online
As some medicines like telemedicine abortion are illegal in nearly 20 states, people are getting creative with mail forwarding, international healthcare providers, and other methods to obtain abortion pills.
People in states with restrictive abortion laws are finding creative ways to obtain abortion pills online, made easier by a recent increase in telemedicine abortion providers in many states, as the Supreme Court has allowed the Texas abortion ban to stand and is now poised to overturn Roe v. Wade this summer.
The FDA permanently lifted a long-standing in-person distribution requirement for the abortion pill mifepristone in December. This opened the door to telemedicine abortion in many states, where providers screen patients online or by phone and then mail them abortion pills. People in 25 states can now legally obtain telemedicine abortions from providers in their own states for as little as $150, with some services reducing the price to zero if necessary.
However, telemedicine abortion is illegal in 19 states. According to Elisa Wells, co-director of Plan C, an organisation that conducts research and publicly shares information about how people access abortion pills in the United States, evidence suggests that people are finding new ways to access abortion pills in these states.
"As politicians continue to pass unjust laws restricting access to these safe and effective medications, we know that people are finding other ways to get them," Wells said. "We have a section on our website about creative ways people access pills when they live in restricted areas to help people understand what we know people are doing and how they are doing it." There is no reason why modern telehealth abortion care should be limited by zip code, and these people are finding effective workarounds to get the care they require."
Many people obtain abortion pills from countries other than the United States by ordering them directly from online pharmacies. Many of these online pharmacies have been vetted by Plan C researchers by ordering abortion pills from them and testing the pills for quality. Secure Abortion Pills ($200, delivery in 14 days), Abortion Rx ($239, eight days), Generic Abortion Pills ($291, six days), Buy MTP Kits ($301, six days), Abortion Privacy ($380, five days), and Online Abortion Pills ($480, four days) are among the websites listed on Plan C's website. Abortion pills can be obtained at these pharmacies without a prescription.
Many people are also ordering abortion pills through the Austria-based health care provider Aid Access, which is run by Dr. Rebecca Gomperts. Aid Access uses online forms to schedule physician-supervised telemedicine appointments and then ships abortion pills to patients in the United States. In states where telemedicine abortion is prohibited, the pills are shipped from India, which can take several weeks. Gomperts charges a sliding scale fee of up to $110 in these states.
Mail forwarding services are a third option that people in restrictive states are using to access telemedicine abortion care from health care providers in U.S. states that allow it. People are renting a mailing address from mail forwarding services such as iPostal1.com or Anytime Mailbox to use for the telemedicine consultation because providers are only allowed to mail pills to patients who have an address in the states where the provider is licensed to practice. Then they ask the service to deliver the pills to them in their respective states.
“There is no reason why modern telehealth abortion care should be limited by zip code, and these people are finding effective workarounds to get the care they require”.- Elisa Wells, co-director of Plan C
"We actually did our own investigation to see if mail forwarding was possible, you know, the same way we order and test pills from online pharmacies to see what's involved," Wells explained. They discovered that mail forwarding worked.
Plan C describes how people use mail forwarding to order abortion pills on their website. People are renting an "address" in a state where legal online abortion services are available for about $8–10 per month, plus a $25 online notary fee to get started. They then consult with a provider in the state where they rented the mailbox online and list the forwarding service address as their shipping address.
Patients say they are in the state where the clinic is located when doing the online, video, or telephone consultation because clinicians are only allowed to serve people in the states where they are licensed. Those who pay with a credit card must include the correct billing address associated with their credit card. This had no bearing on their ability to have the pills delivered to the forwarding service address.
When the mail forwarding service informs them that a package has arrived at their "address," they request that it be delivered to their home address. There is sometimes a small fee for this, usually around $5. Because the rental is only required for a single delivery, it can be cancelled after one month.
People living in states with abortion restrictions have been able to obtain abortion pills by mail from U.S.-licensed clinicians using this method.
"You have to go through a few hoops to get a mailing address," Wells explained. "You must provide two forms of identification and have an electronic notarization performed." You don't have to go anywhere because it's all done online. You simply need to upload some documents and pay some fees (around $40 total) to get it set up and rent the address for a month. It does add a small amount of time—about four to five days."
As an alternative, some people ask friends who live in a state that allows telemedicine abortions if they can have the pills shipped to their address and then pick them up. People who do this include their name, "c/o friend's name," and their full address. This reduces the chances of the package being marked "addressee unknown" or "return to sender."
Others use "general delivery" at a U.S. Post Office near the state line to shorten their journey. "General delivery" means that mail is sent to a specific U.S. office and the person receiving it goes there in person to pick it up with an ID that matches the name on the package. There is no need to establish a post office box, and there is no fee for this service.
To use general delivery, people locate a nearby state that offers mail-order pills. For example, if they live in Tennessee, they could order from service in Georgia, Virginia, or Illinois, depending on which state is the closest to them. They then consult a map to locate the nearest border town in the other state. For example, a resident of Chattanooga, Tenn., may identify Rossville, Ga., as the nearest town with a U.S. post office. Although not all post offices provide general delivery, many do. People can find out if a general delivery service is available at a specific post office by searching for the town name on the United States Postal Service website.
After confirming that a post office will accept a general delivery package, they contact a telehealth abortion provider in the state and schedule a consultation. When questioned, they state that they are in the same state as the provider at the time of the consultation. They give the clinic the "general delivery" address. They track the package's arrival using the information provided by the clinic and go to the post office in person when it arrives. They take identification that corresponds to the name on the package.
Wells warns that using creative methods to obtain pills without travelling to another state may expose people to unjust prosecution.
"Lawyers have told us that a person is not doing anything wrong when they access pills in some of these creative ways," Wells said. "However, we know that some people have been criminalised for obtaining and taking pills on their own, and we know that criminalization, in general, falls heaviest on people who are already marginalised by our systems." "If people have questions about their legal risk, we always recommend that they contact the free Repro Legal Helpline." We want people to have as much information as possible so that they can make the best decision for their particular situation."
While people are inventing new ways to obtain abortion pills in states that restrict access, reproductive health advocates are frustrated that they must.
"Our entire system is broken," Wells said. "Our medical system is in shambles. Our legal system is in disarray. We have access to modern medical health care in the form of these pills and telemedicine. There is no reason why they should not be available from doctors who are knowledgeable and willing to provide the service across borders."
People in states with restrictive abortion laws are finding creative ways to obtain abortion pills online, made easier by a recent increase in telemedicine abortion providers in many states, as the Supreme Court has allowed the Texas abortion ban to stand and is now poised to overturn Roe v. Wade this summer.
The FDA permanently lifted a long-standing in-person distribution requirement for the abortion pill mifepristone in December. This opened the door to telemedicine abortion in many states, where providers screen patients online or by phone and then mail them abortion pills. People in 25 states can now legally obtain telemedicine abortions from providers in their own states for as little as $150, with some services reducing the price to zero if necessary.
However, telemedicine abortion is illegal in 19 states. According to Elisa Wells, co-director of Plan C, an organisation that conducts research and publicly shares information about how people access abortion pills in the United States, evidence suggests that people are finding new ways to access abortion pills in these states.
"As politicians continue to pass unjust laws restricting access to these safe and effective medications, we know that people are finding other ways to get them," Wells said. "We have a section on our website about creative ways people access pills when they live in restricted areas to help people understand what we know people are doing and how they are doing it." There is no reason why modern telehealth abortion care should be limited by zip code, and these people are finding effective workarounds to get the care they require."
Many people obtain abortion pills from countries other than the United States by ordering them directly from online pharmacies. Many of these online pharmacies have been vetted by Plan C researchers by ordering abortion pills from them and testing the pills for quality. Secure Abortion Pills ($200, delivery in 14 days), Abortion Rx ($239, eight days), Generic Abortion Pills ($291, six days), Buy MTP Kits ($301, six days), Abortion Privacy ($380, five days), and Online Abortion Pills ($480, four days) are among the websites listed on Plan C's website. Abortion pills can be obtained at these pharmacies without a prescription.
Many people are also ordering abortion pills through the Austria-based health care provider Aid Access, which is run by Dr. Rebecca Gomperts. Aid Access uses online forms to schedule physician-supervised telemedicine appointments and then ships abortion pills to patients in the United States. In states where telemedicine abortion is prohibited, the pills are shipped from India, which can take several weeks. Gomperts charges a sliding scale fee of up to $110 in these states.
Mail forwarding services are a third option that people in restrictive states are using to access telemedicine abortion care from health care providers in U.S. states that allow it. People are renting a mailing address from mail forwarding services such as iPostal1.com or Anytime Mailbox to use for the telemedicine consultation because providers are only allowed to mail pills to patients who have an address in the states where the provider is licensed to practice. Then they ask the service to deliver the pills to them in their respective states.
“There is no reason why modern telehealth abortion care should be limited by zip code, and these people are finding effective workarounds to get the care they require”.- Elisa Wells, co-director of Plan C
"We actually did our own investigation to see if mail forwarding was possible, you know, the same way we order and test pills from online pharmacies to see what's involved," Wells explained. They discovered that mail forwarding worked.
Plan C describes how people use mail forwarding to order abortion pills on their website. People are renting an "address" in a state where legal online abortion services are available for about $8–10 per month, plus a $25 online notary fee to get started. They then consult with a provider in the state where they rented the mailbox online and list the forwarding service address as their shipping address.
Patients say they are in the state where the clinic is located when doing the online, video, or telephone consultation because clinicians are only allowed to serve people in the states where they are licensed. Those who pay with a credit card must include the correct billing address associated with their credit card. This had no bearing on their ability to have the pills delivered to the forwarding service address.
When the mail forwarding service informs them that a package has arrived at their "address," they request that it be delivered to their home address. There is sometimes a small fee for this, usually around $5. Because the rental is only required for a single delivery, it can be cancelled after one month.
People living in states with abortion restrictions have been able to obtain abortion pills by mail from U.S.-licensed clinicians using this method.
"You have to go through a few hoops to get a mailing address," Wells explained. "You must provide two forms of identification and have an electronic notarization performed." You don't have to go anywhere because it's all done online. You simply need to upload some documents and pay some fees (around $40 total) to get it set up and rent the address for a month. It does add a small amount of time—about four to five days."
As an alternative, some people ask friends who live in a state that allows telemedicine abortions if they can have the pills shipped to their address and then pick them up. People who do this include their name, "c/o friend's name," and their full address. This reduces the chances of the package being marked "addressee unknown" or "return to sender."
Others use "general delivery" at a U.S. Post Office near the state line to shorten their journey. "General delivery" means that mail is sent to a specific U.S. office and the person receiving it goes there in person to pick it up with an ID that matches the name on the package. There is no need to establish a post office box, and there is no fee for this service.
To use general delivery, people locate a nearby state that offers mail-order pills. For example, if they live in Tennessee, they could order from service in Georgia, Virginia, or Illinois, depending on which state is the closest to them. They then consult a map to locate the nearest border town in the other state. For example, a resident of Chattanooga, Tenn., may identify Rossville, Ga., as the nearest town with a U.S. post office. Although not all post offices provide general delivery, many do. People can find out if a general delivery service is available at a specific post office by searching for the town name on the United States Postal Service website.
After confirming that a post office will accept a general delivery package, they contact a telehealth abortion provider in the state and schedule a consultation. When questioned, they state that they are in the same state as the provider at the time of the consultation. They give the clinic the "general delivery" address. They track the package's arrival using the information provided by the clinic and go to the post office in person when it arrives. They take identification that corresponds to the name on the package.
Wells warns that using creative methods to obtain pills without travelling to another state may expose people to unjust prosecution.
"Lawyers have told us that a person is not doing anything wrong when they access pills in some of these creative ways," Wells said. "However, we know that some people have been criminalised for obtaining and taking pills on their own, and we know that criminalization, in general, falls heaviest on people who are already marginalised by our systems." "If people have questions about their legal risk, we always recommend that they contact the free Repro Legal Helpline." We want people to have as much information as possible so that they can make the best decision for their particular situation."
While people are inventing new ways to obtain abortion pills in states that restrict access, reproductive health advocates are frustrated that they must.
"Our entire system is broken," Wells said. "Our medical system is in shambles. Our legal system is in disarray. We have access to modern medical health care in the form of these pills and telemedicine. There is no reason why they should not be available from doctors who are knowledgeable and willing to provide the service across borders."