U.S. women can get abortion pill via telemedicine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s policy change on Tuesday allows women to receive an abortion pill without visiting a doctor’s office or clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FDA’s acting head, Janet Woodcock, said recent studies “do not appear to show increases in serious safety concerns” when women take the pill without first visiting a health facility.

Is that actually safe for mothers? The change clears the way for women to get abortion pill prescriptions via telemedicine and receive them through the mail. But the reports the FDA relied on are unlikely to give the full picture of how many women experienced complications, and a similar policy in the United Kingdom saw many women end up hospitalized after taking the pill at home due to lack of medical oversight.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Hickman’s report in Vitals about the trauma left behind after the U.K. lifted its in-person rules for the abortion pill.