Planned Parenthood to offer ‘just in case’ abortion pills at some US clinics

Planned Parenthood clinics in Washington and Hawaii will now offer “just in case” abortion medication, bringing wider attention to the option of receiving the pills in advance of pregnancy amid growing challenges to access.

Leaders at the organization hope their name recognition will help community members understand their options for accessing care despite federal, state and personal challenges to getting abortion care.

“It’s more than just an opportunity. It really is an obligation,” said Colleen McNicholas, chief of clinical transformation and medical affairs for Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky. “We need to be doing everything we can at this moment, and that means more than just holding the line – it means finding ways to expand access.”

The announcement means abortion medication in advance has “gotten a lot of visibility,” said Amy Merrill, co-founder of Plan C, an organization that offers information about medication abortion, including on pills in advance. “It makes it more known, it makes it more normal, it destigmatizes it.”

Some 41 states have banned or restricted abortion, and the US Food and Drug Administration is conducting a review of mifepristone, an abortion medication, with the possibility of restricting it nationally. Yet abortion in the US has largely remained steady because of telehealth and travel to states where abortion is still protected.

Having abortion pills on hand prior to becoming pregnant can further ease challenges to accessing abortion, including geography, interpersonal dynamics, money, work and other obstacles, Merrill said. Getting an abortion in the US is frequently “confusing” and “chaotic”, she said. People facing intimate partner violence may struggle to get to the clinic in time; teenagers may not have their parents’ permission; others face challenges taking time off work, finding childcare and getting appointments with providers in time.

“This movement is trying to think about how to ease the burden of this basic need in the face of so many existing challenges – political, but also logistical and financial and interpersonal,” Merrill said.

It can be challenging to find timely, appropriate care even in states that protect access to abortion, McNicholas said. “Even if you are in a haven state or a protected state, that doesn’t necessarily mean access is easy for you.”

“Needing an abortion is time-sensitive for patients,” Rebecca Gibron, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky. “Especially in parts of Washington and Hawaii that are very rural, where it is hard for folks to access timely sexual and reproductive healthcare and abortion care, offering this option to our patients really ensures their autonomy and their ability to have an abortion when they need it.”

The Washington and Hawaii clinics are the first Planned Parenthood organizations to offer just-in-case medication, though other abortion providers have also offered pills in advance.

“I think it’s super important for us to enter this space, because Planned Parenthood really is a household name, and we are trusted by millions of people across this country,” said Gibron, who was a Planned Parenthood patient as a teenager and is now a mother and grandmother from Idaho. “Our aim in launching this is really to ensure that more patients know this option is available to them.”

The clinics will provide in-person and telehealth services to residents of Hawaii and Washington, but they won’t remotely prescribe to patients in other states. “We are making this service available in Hawaii and Washington specifically because of the state laws that support this model of care,” Gibron said. “We will continue working on the regulatory environment in other states where abortion is legal, so that we can offer this service there too.”

Some other providers provide telehealth to patients in states with restrictions, using shield laws to protect them from liability, McNicholas said. They frequently refer patients across state lines to Plan C, which offers a state-by-state directory for providers.

“The announcement that they were going to start with the states that they operate in made sense, and it doesn’t mean that people in restricted states don’t have options,” Merrill said. “They absolutely do if they want to get pills in advance.”

Planned Parenthood has a “broad platform” and name recognition, “but also over the years they have built a trust – they have built themselves as an organization that is established to serve people’s health needs, that’s going to show up for people”, Merrill said. “They’re not saying, ‘Go get the pills, and if and when you need to use them, just figure it out.’ They’re saying: ‘We’re here for you all along the way.’”