Buying and using abortion pills from alternative suppliers may have legal risks. Hundreds of thousands of people have successfully received pills by mail over the past few years with no problem, but some people have been criminalized. The ReproLegal Helpline is a free service that can help you understand your risk. Click the headings below for more information about these risks. Pills are available by mail in all states, even in states that ban clinic-based abortion care. Using pills by mail is medically safe.
If you live in a state that has restrictions on abortion like a total ban or gestation restrictions , using pills by mail may come with some legal risk. To understand the potential legal risks, you can contact the ReproLegal Helpline, a free legal resource that can help answer your questions: visit reprolegalhelpline. But, people in states that ban abortion can still get abortion pills by mail. People who live in states that ban abortion also sometimes travel to a state where abortion is legal to get care.
However, traveling to get care could be risky for some people, for instance if they are not free to leave their home or do not want to risk going through an immigration checkpoint which can be within miles of any US border. The Repro Legal Helpline provides free and confidential legal advice that can help people better understand the laws and legal risk they may face. Contact them online or call We know that hundreds of thousands of people in restricted states have successfully received and used pills by mail over the past few years with no legal consequences.
And, we know that some people have been criminalized. Those who are already at greater risk of criminalization because of their race, gender identity, economic status, or other factors may have a higher risk of prosecution. Taking abortion pills is not a criminal act in most states. But, some people who have used abortion pills on their own have gotten in legal trouble in the United States.
Everyone should be able to access medical care when they are concerned about their health. But in a few cases, medical staff have called the police on people who have taken abortion pills. This is not ethical and should not happen. Patients are not required to report to clinicians that they have used abortion pills. The symptoms after taking abortion pills are the same as a miscarriage. Blood tests do not reveal any differences between a miscarriage and a medication abortion.
