A European doctor prescribes abortion pills to U.S. women over the internet ? but the FDA is watching

Some make dubious claims about “pain-free” and “100 percent working” abortions.As states including Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio and Georgia pass bills restricting abortion access, and as abortion remains an unaffordable option for many women like Necolie, experts expect that more American women may turn to these websites for alternatives.“As abortion access at clinics becomes more and more constrained, I would anticipate that more people will look for options, including online options,” said Dr. Daniel Grossman, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco.But by selling unregulated abortion pills, these websites are breaking U.S. law, according to the FDA, which last year reportedly raided the home of a New York City woman who was mailing out abortion pills. The group’s physicians prescribe abortion medication for $95 — or free, in cases of financial need — and then send the prescriptions to a pharmacy in India, which mails them to the U.S. Aid Access is different from many other online abortion pill providers in that it is managed by a physician, Dr. Rebecca Gomperts.On March 8, the FDA sent Gomperts a warning letter, notifying the organization that it was violating U.S. law and ordering it to “immediately cease” its sale of “misbranded and unapproved new drugs.” The letter notes that the specific brand of mifepristone and misoprostol being sent to Aid Access patients has not been FDA approved. Serious complications from medication abortion occur in about 0.3 percent of cases.Aid Access advises patients that abortions from medication and miscarriages look the same, so if a patient needs to go to the hospital because of complications, “you can tell the doctors you think you had a miscarriage.”Gomperts said she is not aware of any deaths or serious complications among her patients.Necolie, the Florida mother of three, found Aid Access and completed its online survey, which asked about her medical history and her proximity to emergency medical care.