The analysis suggests threats to abortion access drive demand for abortion pills

An Analysis of Abortion Requests at Aid Access in the U.S. During the March 2023 Legal Action to Propose a Supreme Court Decision against Mifepristone

A study analyzed 48,408 abortion requests made to Aid Access, an Austria-based nonprofit that offers online abortion services in the US over a two-year period.

In addition to the timing of requests, Aiken analyzed the locations of patients who sought advance provision. She saw spikes in requests from states where abortion restrictions were being proposed by lawmakers.

“Go up and you will get more requests quickly,” she says. “So it seems possible that people are really responding to the threat of reduced abortion access.”

Aiken noted a similar increase in the spring of 2023, when a lawsuit challenging access to mifepristone was working its way through the legal system. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on that case next year.

In response to a request for comment on Aiken’s analysis, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) described mifepristone as “a very safe and effective drug,” and said the data suggest that “people are worried about needing abortion care and being unable to access it in the future due to abortion bans. While some people may be able to travel to states where that care is legal, others simply cannot.”

Patients and clinicians are unable to prescribe mifepristone in advance due to federal health regulations.

In an email to NPR, Aid Access founder Dr. Rebecca Gomperts mentioned that certain U.S.-based physicians are prescribing the pills in advance because of shield laws in some states. The medication can be kept locked up for at least two years if the pack is not exposed to heat or light.

Increasing costs for abortion services: How do we prepare for the coming legislative change, and how do we need to act? A Theoretical Perspective

“The biggest increases seem to be in states where there’s potential legislation coming,” she says. “It seems like people are reacting to something that might be coming, and they need to be ready for that.” “

“We know that people struggle to afford, say, $100 even for abortion care they currently need,” she says. “So it might be a very different financial calculus, and these financial barriers might loom large for people.”