Medication Abortion.
A newer regimen that, based on scientific studies, has been shown to be just as effective while using less medication, resulting in fewer side effects and requiring fewer visits to the provider.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of mifepristone for early nonsurgical abortion in 2000. Since then, states have enacted several types of restrictions targeting medication abortion. Many states limit provision of medication abortion to physicians, despite recommendations from the World Health Organization and the National Abortion Federation that midlevel providers, such as physician assistants and advanced practice nurses, can safely provide medication abortion. Several states have adopted laws that require mifepristone to be provided in accordance with the FDA-approved protocol, which is based on a regimen for mifepristone developed in Europe in the late 1980s. It has been surpassed by a newer regimen that, based on scientific studies, has been shown to be just as effective while using less medication, resulting in fewer side effects and requiring fewer visits to the provider. Since health care providers are legally permitted to adapt FDA-approved protocols, and many medications are prescribed “off label,” including drugs for children and cancer patients, these protocol laws interfere with accepted medical practice. In an effort to reach rural women, some providers began offering medication abortion services via telemedicine. However, some states require clinicians to be in the physical presence of the patient when prescribing abortion-inducing drugs. These laws therefore restrict the use of telemedicine in the case of abortion and reduce access to abortion services in rural areas.