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More than half of recent abortions in the United States have been performed with abortion pills, a sign that medicated abortion is increasingly becoming the most accessible and preferred method for terminating a pregnancy, according to preliminary data released Thursday.

this reportPublished by the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that promotes abortion rights, found that, in 2020, drug abortion — the two-pill method allowed for pregnancies up to 10 weeks in the United States — accounted for 54 percent of all abortions. The figure represents a significant increase over the institute’s previous report. accounts for 39 percent of abortions in 2017.

The increase in drug abortion is likely the result of several factors. A cheaper and less invasive method than surgical abortions already existed. become more widespread Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, driven in part by the restrictions of conservative states that placed barriers to surgical methods, especially later in pregnancy.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, which collects data by contacting every known abortion provider in the country, as of 2017, about a third of clinics offered medicated abortions alone. According to 2019 data Data from the Centers for Disease Control and PreventionExcluding California, Maryland, and New Hampshire, the pills accounted for 42 percent of all abortions — and 54 percent of abortions that were early enough to qualify for medication because they occurred before 10 weeks of pregnancy.

The pandemic fueled this trend when medical groups filed a lawsuit asking the federal government to remove the requirement for the Food and Drug Administration to dispense mifepristone, the first of two abortion pills, to patients in person at a clinic or doctor’s office. Medical groups, citing years of data showing that drug abortion is safe, said patients are at higher risk of becoming infected with coronavirus if they visit clinics to take mifepristone, noting that mifepristone is the only drug the FDA needs for patients. to receive in person from a healthcare facility, but patients were also allowed to take it on their own at home without the provider being present.

A The judge granted the request. that summer, he allowed patients to see a doctor via telemedicine and receive pills by mail, but after a challenge from the Trump administration, Supreme Court lifted the restriction early last year.

But under Biden’s direction, the FDA permanently removed the personal need He said in December and also that pharmacies could start dispensing mifepristone if they meet certain qualifications. The FDA’s action means that medicated abortion will become more accessible for women who find it difficult to travel to an abortion provider or who prefer the privacy of terminating a pregnancy at home.

As a result, the rate of abortions with pills is expected to increase even more, even though the Guttmacher Institute’s new report is a preliminary report – which only reflects information from 75 percent of clinics and includes only percentages, not raw data.

About 80 percent of all abortions in the CDC’s 2019 data occurred before 10 weeks of pregnancy; this suggests that there are many more women in the clinic who would choose abortion pills rather than a procedure if it were possible.

At the same time, the growing interest in drug abortion has made it the focus of highly polarized abortion debate.

19 states, mostly in the South and Midwest, have banned telemedicine visits for medicated abortions, and 16 state legislatures so far in 2022 have passed bills banning or limiting drug abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute report.

The Supreme Court is now considering Whether abortion rights will be revoked even the 1973 Roe v. Overturning the Wade decision, experts and advocates on all sides expect drug abortion to play an even more important role in the divided abortion debate.