Safe and Effective Long Distance Abortions

Transcript:

Hello and Welcome. I'm Dr. George Lundberg, Editor-at-Large, and this is an Evidence-Based Clinical Minute.

Abortions in the U.S. are legal, safe, frequent, and controversial. They may be surgical or medical.

Those physicians who perform surgical abortions may be threatened by protestors, politicians, picketers, clerics, and even violence, including murder.

Use of the less obvious medical abortion can relieve many of these impedimental concerns.

In the August 2011 issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dan Grossman and four colleagues from Oakland, Calif. and Cambridge, Mass., reported a prospective cohort study of 223 women obtaining medical abortion by telemedicine and 226 on face-to-face physician visits in Iowa in 2008 and 2009.

Follow-up clinical data and a self-administered questionnaire showed successful abortion was achieved for 99% of the telemedicine and 97% of the face-to-face patients.

In a larger group of 1,172 telemedicine patients and 2,384 face-to-face patients, the prevalence of adverse events reported during the study period was 1.3% in each group.

Political, religious, and social pressure, and the fear thereby generated, has sharply decreased the availability of surgical abortion in many states, and especially in some American cities, counties, and rural areas.

Based on this study, medical abortion can be provided in face-to-face physician visits or by telemedicine long distance with equal efficacy and safety for the mother.

Of course, the death rate for the fetus is still near 100%.

That's my opinion. I'm Dr. George Lundberg, At Large with an Evidence-Based Clinical Minute.

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News & Politics

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