US SCIENTISTS have reported a significant rise in online prescriptions for direct-to-patient abortion drugs in the year following the country's Supreme Court's decision to overturn the federal right to abortion.
Published in JAMA Network Open, the study found that the average number of prescriptions per day rose from 88.5 in Mar 2022 to 201.5 by Mar 2023.
Notable spikes occurred after the early leak of the court's draft decision and after the official ruling.
Most of the prescriptions were issued by online pharmacies, with the majority sent to states with supportive abortion policies.
The researchers highlight the critical role online pharmacies play in ensuring abortion care access in the post-Roe v. Wade landscape in the US.
"The findings underscore the importance of online platforms in delivering essential reproductive healthcare," the researchers stated, urging the removal of barriers to accessing abortion medications through online pharmacies.
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