The Quickie: Still True This Week: Medication Abortion Is Still Extremely Safe And Effective, Regardless If Care Is Provided In Person Or Via Telehealth

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: Mifepristone is still safe and effective, bad actors using location data to spread anti-abortion misinformation, anti-abortion antics in Utah, and a state fights roundup.

YES, IT IS STILL TRUE THIS WEEK: MEDICATION ABORTION IS EXTREMELY SAFE AND EFFECTIVE, REGARDLESS IF CARE IS PROVIDED IN PERSON OR VIA TELEHEALTH: We said it this month. We said it last year. We’ve been saying it for a long time: Mifepristone is safe and effective. It’s also safe and effective when prescribed through telemedicine. Research released last week underscores what we’ve been saying for YEARS: Medication abortion prescribed through telemedicine is just as safe and effective as prescriptions from health centers. According to the study, more than 99% of medication abortions that were obtained by telehealth were not followed by serious adverse events.

Color us **not surprised.**

Mifepristone is safe, effective, and has been used by millions of people for abortion and miscarriage care for more than 20 years. As Dr. Ushma Upadhyay, lead author of the study, explains, “ruling against this method and the FDA’s rigorous science review process would be a huge blow to the American public and make this essential health service harder to get.” 

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over medication abortion access in March. Until SCOTUS rules in that case, mifepristone — one of two medicines used in medication abortion — will remain available in states where abortion is legal. 

Read more in Forbes. See more about the mifepristone case here and here.

 

SEN. WYDEN SOUNDS THE ALARM ON BAD ACTORS USING LOCATION DATA TO SPREAD ANTI- ABORTION DISINFORMATION, CALLS ON FTC AND SEC TO ACT: Last week, Sen. Wyden (D-OR) sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) highlighting a data broker that gathered and sold the location data of visitors to Planned Parenthood health centers, which was used by an anti-abortion group to target people seeking care with disinformation ads. The letter calls on the SEC to investigate the data broker and asks the FTC to prevent the selling of the collected health data since the data broker recently filed for bankruptcy. Nothing from the investigation indicates that protected patient health information was compromised. 

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, people increasingly worry that their health care decisions might be policed. Bad actors continue to lie and spread misinformation to dissuade people from seeking abortion and other sexual and reproductive health services. 

This is a consequence of abortion bans. No one should fear arrest or prosecution due to a pregnancy outcome. All people deserve to access safe and legal abortion free from shame, stigma, and intimidation.

Read more here. 

 

LATEST ANTI-ABORTION ANTICS: UTAH LEGISLATOR BACKPEDALS ON HER OWN ABORTION BAN: Utah House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee introduced new legislation that she misrepresents will 'simplify the issues of litigation and allow the courts to focus on…the constitutionality of the underlying trigger law' by repealing pieces of last year’s clinic ban bill. The clinic ban remains blocked by a lower court, and the Utah Supreme Court is currently only considering the state’s 2020 trigger ban. In reality, this new bill would not impact the litigation before the Utah Supreme Court or remove any of the restrictions that currently create barriers to care for Utahns. A House committee considered and advanced the bill this morning.

But Utahns will absolutely see through this misdirection. As Kathryn Boyd, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah explained, “While legislators have passed bill after bill trying to limit or outright ban abortion, it remains legal and available in Utah up to 18 weeks. Like all Utahns, we want to move beyond government overreach and constant litigation to find ways to collaborate with lawmakers and help everyone get the health care and support they need. As the state’s largest sole provider of sexual and reproductive health care, we trust people to make the best decisions for themselves and their families in consultation with their health care provider. We look forward to a future when all Utahns, including legislators, can retain their deeply held beliefs without jeopardizing the freedom, safety, and wellbeing of Utah families. “

Read more from Deseret News here. 

 

STATE FIGHTS ROUND UP: Anti-abortion bills continue to advance across the country. 

• Kansas: Lawmakers held a hearing on SB 425, legislation that would define fetuses as a person by amending a Kansas family statute to allow pregnant people to claim child support any time after fertilization. While supporters of fetal personhood laws purport that they will help families, in reality, these measures are an underhanded way of advancing an anti-abortion agenda. House lawmakers also heard HB 2749, which would require medical providers to ask patients invasive, stigmatizing, and medically unnecessary questions about their personal lives as part of the state’s abortion reporting requirements.
• New Hampshire: The New Hampshire Legislature voted on several bills related to sexual and reproductive health care last week:
  • The New Hampshire House approved HCR 11, a resolution emphasizing the importance of access to medication abortion in New Hampshire. It now moves to the New Hampshire Senate.
  • The Senate voted for an amended version of SB 567 which directs the Department of Health and Human Services to submit a report addressing barriers to medication abortion access in the state.
  • Senators voted down a measure that would have amended the New Hampshire Constitution to enshrine the right to reproductive freedom (CACR 24) and SB 575 which would have protected reproductive health care services, including for patients traveling to New Hampshire from states where abortion is restricted or banned. 
• South Carolina: The Senate Committee on Medical Affairs will likely vote on HB4624, a gender-affirming care ban, on Wednesday. The bill also bars anyone under the age of 26 from using Medicaid to cover their gender-affirming care and contains language implying school employees should out transgender students to their families. HB4624 passed the House last month. 
• Utah: Lawmakers have introduced and advancedHB560 a bill to repeal a clinic ban that was passed last year. The 2023 law has been on hold due to pending litigation but if permitted to take effect would force providers like Planned Parenthood to stop providing abortion. HB506 repeals some of the provisions of the 2023 law but does not address the 18-week ban that is currently in effect or the state’s trigger ban which is blocked. Litigation challenging the trigger ban remains ongoing in the Utah Supreme Court.
• Tennessee: A House panel advanced HB1895, a bill that makes it a felony for an adult to help a minor access abortion prohibited by the state’s current total ban. 
• Oklahoma: Lawmakers vote two anti-abortion bills out of committee: HB 3216 passed through committee despite lawmakers’ concerns that it would create a database of people who’ve gotten an abortion and HB 3013 would charge individuals who deliver and possess medication abortion with felony drug trafficking charges. Those convicted could face up to 10 years in prison and $100,000. 
• Iowa: The Senate yesterday advanced a bill loosening accountability requirements for the state and third-party contractors administering the stalled MOMS program, which currently diverts $2 million in taxpayer money to anti-abortion centers. These fake women’s health centers use deceptive tactics and religiously-laced propaganda to pressure people into not having an abortion and providing inaccurate medical advice.