Despite Abortion Bans, Groups Offer Access to Pills Via Mail

Reproductive health groups nationwide are helping citizens in states where there are restrictions on abortions by allowing citizens of those states obtain abortion pills through the mail.

Since the Supreme Court ended a federal right to abortion last year with its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, abortion proponents have been seeking ways to circumvent states that have enacted abortion restrictions.

A network of abortion pill providers and educators, long in place before the Dobbs decision, has increased its efforts to provide women in states that have enacted strict antiabortion laws, such as Texas and Idaho, to get medicated abortions, The Dallas Morning News and Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

"It's just so important that people know that they still have options, even in Texas," Elisa Wells, co-founder and co-director of the abortion information nonprofit Plan C, told the Morning News.

Medical providers in Idaho can't prescribe abortion pills anymore, Oregon Public Radio reported.

"Those mutual aid societies are treading on pretty thin ice by making available illegal abortion pills to women in the state of Idaho," said Blaine Conzatti, the president of Idaho Family Policy Center, which helped draft Idaho's heartbeat law and No Public Funds for Abortion law before the Dobbs decision.

The group also supported the abortion trafficking law recently blocked by a federal judge in a lawsuit brought against it by Planned Parenthood. Conzatti said there are legal precedents to prosecuting people in jurisdictions outside state lines.

"California, Oregon, and Washington would be negligent in their responsibilities under our reciprocal agreements with those states if they refuse to extradite abortionists or other unlawful actors to the state of Idaho," he said.

A 2021' Texas law prohibits shipping abortion pills through the mail, the Morning News reported, and those caught violating the law face six months to two years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Organization's offering online abortion resources have ways to protect themselves. Plan C doesn't sell pills, the Morning News reported. Instead, it offers a centralized hub of options and advice. Plan C's website refers users to a network of domestic and international abortion rights groups such as Aid Access and Las Libres that can provide pills.

But states passing increasingly aggressive anti-abortion legislation could bring the system to a halt. Still, the U.S. Postal Service said it would not try to prevent people from sending abortion pills through the mail, regardless of destination. In December, the FDA lifted a requirement that abortion drugs be administered in a clinical setting. And although abortion pills require a prescription, they are not a considered controlled substance.

Amy O'Donnell, communications director for Texas Alliance for Life, and antiabortion nonprofit, is aware of groups that provide abortion pills to Texans.

"This is something that we proactively work to bring legislation for that would provide a deterrent for any who would wish to illegally traffic those mail-order drugs to Texas women from within our state or from another state," O'Donnell told the Morning News.

Related stories