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People who face barriers to abortion care are more likely to attempt self-managed abortion, including taking actions that may be harmful physically, according to the results of a recent study. The findings are particularly relevant as an increasing number of American women have little or no access to safe and legal abortions in their communities or states.
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Self-managed abortion care could be far cheaper and easier to obtain than it is now in the United States, with legal barriers such as state laws banning mail-order abortion pills and the federal rule that still prevents pharmacies from selling mifepristone and misoprostol.
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Clinicians can do more to improve contraceptive and sexual education for patients with disabilities, including youth. A big first step is acknowledging patients are interested in healthy intimate relationships, and sometimes also in preventing pregnancy.
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Disparities in contraceptive use between women with and without disabilities are partly due to limited access to formal sex education in communities and schools, researchers suggest. Physicians could fill this gap, but they often are hindered by their own biases that these patients will not have sex.
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Several recent studies revealed that women with disabilities often receive inadequate or no reproductive and sexual health counseling and care, partly because healthcare professionals do not ask.
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The COVID-19 pandemic affected most women seeking contraceptive care — but those who already are disadvantaged by structural inequities were hit the hardest. The problem worsened as the pandemic continued. The pandemic made reproductive health access disparities worse, creating economic hardship for many women and disproportionately affecting Black, indigenous, and people of color. Recently, researchers found that people were less happy with their ability to access contraceptive care in January 2021 than in July 2020.
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Patients faced difficulties accessing contraceptive care in April 2020 and December 2020, but the steepest drop occurred during the COVID-19 shutdown in April 2020, according to researchers.
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The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions and barriers to contraceptive care in its first year. Reproductive health providers have navigated conflicting and confusing messages about vaccine mandates.
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Research shows that mifepristone can be treated as a normal prescription without compromising safety and risking complications.
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Robert A. Hatcher, MD, MPH, chairman of the Contraceptive Technology Update editorial board, discusses the history of Roe v. Wade and what could happen once the U.S. Supreme Court overturns it.
