Federal, state, and institutional barriers to the expansion of medication and telemedicine abortion services in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mello, Kelsey; Smith, Mikaela H.; Hill, B. Jessie; Chakraborty, Payal; Rivlin, Katherine; Bessett, Danielle; Norris, Alison; McGowan, Michelle L.

doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2021.04.020

Cited by 19 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…National- and state-level approaches to abortion care have been heterogeneous during the pandemic. 3 , 4 , 5 There are some reports of restricted access to services, 5 , 6 but data are scarce. Our nationwide study contributes important evidence that broadening the window for medical abortions and permitting telemedicine visits preserved access in France.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on induced abortions in France in 2020

Vilain

Rey

Ray

et al. 2022

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on induced abortions in France in 2020

Vilain

Rey

Ray

et al. 2022

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

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“…We used ArcGIS programs (ESRI, Redlands, CA) to calculate current driving distance (using road maps as of January 2022) from each Ohio county centroid to the closest abortion facility (in Ohio or out‐of‐state), as well as the distance to the nearest open facility in the two post‐ Roe scenarios where any of the above abortion bans are in effect. For Scenario A (February 2022 driving distances) we excluded Ohio facilities that dispense the mifepristone/misoprostol regimen of medication abortion only via telemedicine, as patients still need to travel to another abortion facility for pre‐abortion counseling and informed consent 37 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For Scenario A (February 2022 driving distances) we excluded Ohio facilities that dispense the mifepristone/misoprostol regimen of medication abortion only via telemedicine, as patients still need to travel to another abortion facility for pre-abortion counseling and informed consent. 37 In Scenarios B and C, in which Roe v. Wade is overturned/ substantially curtailed and an Ohio abortion ban is in effect, we considered the landscape of abortion access in Ohio's neighboring states. Specifically, we assessed which of Ohio's neighboring states would also ban abortion if Roe were overturned.…”

Section: Analytic Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Ohio's proposed abortion bans would impact travel distance to access abortion care

Chakraborty

Murawsky

Smith

et al. 2022

Perspect Sexual Reproductive

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Context: Since March 2021, the Ohio legislature has been actively considering laws that would ban abortion if the United States Supreme Court overturns the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationally in 1973. Methods: We used a national database of publicly advertised abortion facilities to calculate driving distances for Ohioans before and after the activation of proposed abortion bans. Using a legal analysis of abortion laws following the overturn of Roe, we determined which states surrounding Ohio would continue providing abortion care. We calculated distances from each Ohio county centroid to the nearest open abortion facility in three scenarios: (1) as of February 2022, (2) the best-case post-Roe scenario (two of the five surrounding states continue to offer abortion care), and (3) worst-case post-Roe scenario (no surrounding states continue to offer abortion care). We calculated population-weighted distances using county-level data about women aged 15-44 years from the 2019 American Community Survey. Results: In February 2022, all Ohio county centroids were at most 99 miles from an abortion facility (median = 50 miles). The best-case post-Roe scenario shows 62 of Ohio's 88 counties to be 115-279 miles away from the nearest facility (median = 146). The worst-case shows 85 counties to be 191-339 miles away from the nearest facility (median = 264). The current average populationweighted driving distance from county centroid to the nearest facility is 26 miles; the post-Roe scenarios would increase this to 157 miles (best-case) or 269 miles (worst-case).Conclusions: Ohio's proposed abortion bans would substantially increase travel distances to abortion care, impacting over 2.2 million reproductive-aged Ohioans.

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“…Consequently, the total number of abortions fell by 38%, the number of out of state abortions increased by over 500%, and medication abortions increased by 41% [ 36 ]. Similarly, the number of medication abortions peaked at the height of COVID-19 in other states with restrictive abortion policies (Ohio, Kentucky & West Virginia) [ 37 ].…”

Section: Main Textmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive justice in the time of COVID-19: a systematic review of the indirect impacts of COVID-19 on sexual and reproductive health

et al. 2021

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Objective Despite gendered dimensions of COVID-19 becoming increasingly apparent, the impact of COVID-19 and other respiratory epidemics on women and girls’ sexual and reproductive health (SRH) have yet to be synthesized. This review uses a reproductive justice framework to systematically review empirical evidence of the indirect impacts of respiratory epidemics on SRH. Methods We searched MEDLINE and CINAHL for original, peer-reviewed articles related to respiratory epidemics and women and girls’ SRH through May 31, 2021. Studies focusing on various SRH outcomes were included, however those exclusively examining pregnancy, perinatal-related outcomes, and gender-based violence were excluded due to previously published systematic reviews on these topics. The review consisted of title and abstract screening, full-text screening, and data abstraction. Results Twenty-four studies met all eligibility criteria. These studies emphasized that COVID-19 resulted in service disruptions that effected access to abortion, contraceptives, HIV/STI testing, and changes in sexual behaviors, menstruation, and pregnancy intentions. Conclusions These findings highlight the need to enact policies that ensure equitable, timely access to quality SRH services for women and girls, despite quarantine and distancing policies. Research gaps include understanding how COVID-19 disruptions in SRH service provision, access and/or utilization have impacted underserved populations and those with intersectional identities, who faced SRH inequities notwithstanding an epidemic. More robust research is also needed to understand the indirect impact of COVID-19 and epidemic control measures on a wider range of SRH outcomes (e.g., menstrual disorders, fertility services, gynecologic oncology) in the long-term.

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Federal, state, and institutional barriers to the expansion of medication and telemedicine abortion services in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 19 publications

References 12 publications

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on induced abortions in France in 2020

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on induced abortions in France in 2020

How Ohio's proposed abortion bans would impact travel distance to access abortion care

Reproductive justice in the time of COVID-19: a systematic review of the indirect impacts of COVID-19 on sexual and reproductive health

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