Telemedicine and doctor’s office have the same safety for abortion pills.

Abortion pills are just as safe and effective when obtained through telehealth services as they are when obtained in a doctor's office, according to the largest study ever on telemedicine abortions.

Access to abortion is a contentious political issue in the United States. In 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) eliminated in-person dispensing requirements for the abortion drug mifepristone, allowing people to obtain the pill through telehealth services or by mail. Anti-abortion groups are currently challenging this ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Previous studies of hundreds of pregnancies have shown that telemedicine abortions are safe. For further investigation with a larger sample size, Ushma Upadhyay Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, collected data on more than 6,000 telemedicine abortions performed in 20 U.S. states and Washington, DC. All participants were less than 10 weeks pregnant, and approximately 72% of them obtained the abortion pill through a secure text message rather than a video call.

The researchers followed the participants for three to seven days after the abortion, and then again two to four weeks later. The research team found that nearly 98 percent of abortions effectively ended the pregnancy. Additionally, only 0.25 percent of participants experienced serious side effects, such as uncontrolled bleeding or infection. By comparison, personal use of mifepristone is more than 97% effective and has a 0.3% chance of causing adverse events. There was also no difference in outcomes between abortions obtained via text message or video.

“These findings are consistent with the growing body of evidence that mifepristone is safe and effective and that FDA's decision to eliminate the in-person dispensing requirement was scientifically sound.” says Upadhyay.

“The outcomes for patients who come to telemedicine and brick-and-mortar clinics are essentially indistinguishable,” he says. samuel dickman at Planned Parenthood of Montana, a reproductive health nonprofit. Telemedicine abortions are essential to providing care to rural populations and people who are uncomfortable going to an abortion clinic because of an abusive partner, he says.