Internet Assisted Abortion: Coathangers of the Digital Age?

Posted by Lauren, Feministe at 12:55 PM on July 22, 2008.

Women in areas where abortion is illegal or near-illegal are resorting to the internet to buy medication that allows them to terminate their pregnancies at home.

Most of the women indicated in the article report they were "grateful" or found it "stressful but acceptable" that they were able to get medical abortions by this route, although about 11% needed surgical procedures after taking the medication because of incomplete abortion or excessive bleeding. Anti-abortion activists express regret that these women no longer need to walk through picket lines or die in cheap motel rooms to suffer properly for their sins, but methinks the ethics of the issue may be easily resolved by removing arbitrary restrictions against the procedure that force women to break the law in order to control the rate and frequency at which their bodies spawn.

As long as pregnancy exists, so abortion shall exist.

Much of this article reads like moralistic hand-wringing, but I'm concerned that the cycle of drugs that takes several days to complete is handed out to self-reporting individuals, most of whom have little to no medical experience.

I can't attest to the risk-levels of this kind of DIY reproductive health, but I imagine that it's as harmful as being able to order vanity drugs or painkillers online. Thoughts?

Tagged as: reproductive rights, diy healthcare, law and safety