Why Telemedical Abortions Are the Future
By Kelly Bourdet
The field of telemedicine—the act of “visiting” a doctor remotely using internet video conferencing—is an exciting development that could change the lives of individuals living in remote areas or without access to reliable transportation. The internet democratizes reasonably-priced health care. You don't have to travel to see a doctor you like; you don't need to take up as much of a doctor's expensive office hours if you’re simply Skyping her with a question.
While it’s likely that telemedicine will expand preventative health care and improve doctors’ efficiency by evaluating whether a patient needs a “hands-on” appointment, it also has important implications for women seeking medical abortions.
The Iowa state government is conducting hearings to evaluate the currently legal practice of telemedical abortion. Members of the Iowa Medical Board who oppose the practice are facing off against members of Planned Parenthood.
Telemedical abortion has been legal in Iowa since 2008. To undergo the procedure, a woman must undergo an ultrasound by a trained professional in her hometown. She receives standard information about medical abortion and signs a consent form. At this point, a physician teleconferences in via a secure line to answer any questions the woman may have, review her medical history, and determine whether she is a candidate for a medical abortion. After this, the doctor enters a passcode at her location that unlocks a drawer in the woman’s clinic containing mifepristone and misoprostol, medications that produce a medical abortion—sometimes referred to as the “abortion pill.”
The women then returns home where she essentially experiences an induced miscarriage. Prior to telemedical abortions, there were six clinics offering abortion services in Iowa. Now nine additional clinics provide telemedical abortion services, usually in rural and underserved areas. There is a low rate of complications with the abortion pill, so Planned Parenthood and other advocates of telemedical prescriptions argue that this type of prescription is just as safe as prescriptions where women are physically seen in a clinic.
more
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/why-telemedical-abortions-are-the-future
= new reply since forum marked as read
informative science and medical articles. Thanks! 