Abortion Pills By Mail: How to Get Pills Online Through Telehealth in All 50 States
Abortion pills can be mailed to your home through telehealth providers in all 50 states, typically delivered in 1-5 days for $0-$150. This guide covers how the online ordering process works, shield laws that enable nationwide access, legal risks and privacy considerations, health conditions to discuss with a provider before ordering, and where to find abortion pills.
How does getting abortion pills by mail work?
To get pills online, you will first fill out a basic medical questionnaire online. You can talk to a licensed clinician if you need it. Delivery time is usually 1 to 5 days. It might change depending on the provider and where you live. Getting abortion pills by mail is usually cheaper ($0-$150) than picking them up at a clinic ($500-$600). Most providers will offer lower prices if you need it, or even send you pills for free. You can find help online to safely take pills on your own, and doctors generally say it's safe to take pills without seeing a provider first. However, if you have an allergy to mifepristone or misoprostol, take steroid pills everyday, take blood thinners, have chronic adrenal failure, inherited porphyria, have a bleeding disorder, or if you have an IUD, you should contact the M+A hotline for medical support information before taking pills.
For a complete list of providers offering abortion pills by mail in your state, you can visit the Plan C website. Several providers offer pills to people in all 50 states, including AidAccess and The MAP. They usually ask you to answer some questions about your pregnancy, health, and the address where you need pills shipped. You do not have to use your home address. A medical provider will review your order and contact you if they have questions.
Visit Aid AccessVisit Plan CIs there legal risk to getting abortion pills by mail?
In some states, getting and using abortion pills can have a small amount of legal risk. Most states that ban abortion typically make it a crime for healthcare providers to provide an abortion to someone else, but it is generally not a crime to have an abortion - whether that's by traveling to a clinic in another state or getting abortion pills to take at home. However, some states have used unrelated laws to charge pregnant people with a crime after having taken abortion pills. Nevada has a law that makes it a crime for people to get or use abortion pills for themselves after 24 weeks of pregnancy, so people there should be very careful.
You do not need to tell anyone that you took abortion pills, even if you need to visit a healthcare provider for follow-up care. The symptoms of a miscarriage and a medication abortion are the same, and there are no tests that can confirm a medication abortion. However, some people who have used abortion pills on their own have had legal issues because they told their doctor about their abortion after having side effects. Others have been reported by friends or family, or had their online search history exposed.
Here are some steps you can take to protect your privacy: 1. Limit who you tell. You do not need to tell anyone that you took abortion pills, even if you need to visit a medical provider for follow-up care. 2. Keep your online info private. It's a good idea to use incognito or private browsing modes when looking for abortion information online, and to delete your browsing history when you're done looking. 3. To talk with a lawyer for free about your situation, contact the Repro Legal Helpline.
What are shield laws and how do they affect abortion pill access?
Abortion pills are available online in every state thanks to shield laws. Some states have passed laws called "shield laws" to protect access to abortion. These laws protect medical providers in a "shield law" state who offer abortion pills online through telehealth from legal action being taken against them by another state. Thanks to these laws, providers in protective states prescribe and mail pills to people in any state, usually through the first 12-14 weeks of pregnancy.
Shield law providers who offer abortions by telehealth are licensed doctors, midwives, or other clinicians like nurse practitioners. They have the same qualifications as providers you might see in-person. They review each person's medical history to make sure it's safe for them to take abortion pills before they write a prescription. The abortion pills mailed by telehealth providers are FDA-approved. It's not a crime in any state for people to get or use abortion pills for themselves before 24 weeks of pregnancy.