Online drug providers ship powerful medications with minimal screening, leaving women vulnerable to medical emergencies, coercion, and abuse behind closed doors.
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) recently urged the Department of Justice to investigate Plan C for teaching Americans how to obtain chemical abortions in violation of state law and advising users to conceal their activity through privacy-focused browsers, virtual private networks, and encrypted email.
Recent cases demonstrate how men can easily obtain mifepristone online and use it to coerce or drug women. Yet the industry continues pushing to remove medical safeguards and minimize oversight.
During the pandemic, the Biden administration removed the requirement for in-person dispensing of mifepristone, allowing women and girls to obtain the drug online without first seeing a doctor. This convenience carries serious risks.
Dr. Christina Francis, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, recently tested an online abortion provider by claiming she was 13 years old with a history of ectopic pregnancies and other complications. The provider accepted her payment and mailed the drugs despite clear red flags.
The mail-order system has also enabled acts of coercion. An Army captain was convicted after impregnating a subordinate and giving her mifepristone without consent. A Texas attorney slipped abortion drugs into his wife’s drinks. In Louisiana, a young man used his girlfriend’s information to order mifepristone and then isolated her into taking it.
Plan C states it seeks to “transform access to abortion in the U.S. by normalizing the self-directed option of abortion pills by mail.” This mission emphasizes accessibility but ignores medical screening, coercion, abuse, and the risks of using the drugs without examination.
Women and girls deserve better than an abortion system built around secrecy, isolation, and plausible deniability.
David Bereit is an internationally respected pro-life leader who serves as executive director of the Life Leadership Conference.
