NYC Puts Telehealth Abortion Access on Hold

After a Friday court ruling imposed nationwide restrictions on abortion pill orders by mail, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said it stopped referring patients to telehealth providers. 

The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday granted the state of Louisiana’s request to reinstate an old requirement for abortion pills to be dispensed in person. That ruling, in Louisiana v. Food and Drug Administration, was a win for anti-abortion activists because it bans the distribution of abortion pills via telehealth or mail, NBC News reported.

Danco Laboratories, one of the makers of the abortion pill mifepristone, asked the Supreme Court on Saturday to block a lower court ruling that imposed a nationwide requirement for the medication to be dispensed in person, the news site said. Distributing mifepristone by mail has been a key way for women who live in states with abortion bans to access abortion care since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin on Saturday said the court's decision was a "troubling step backward" for access to healthcare.

"For decades, mifepristone has been safely used for abortion care and miscarriages," he said in a statement. "This evidence-based medicine is relied on by patients and providers across the country. The court’s decision to limit access to mifepristone is not responding to any new medical evidence. Instead, it’s creating unnecessary barriers that will cause delays in care, increased travel burdens, and confusion for providers. These are not abstract concerns. This will result in real harm for patients navigating personal medical decisions."

As the matter is argued in court, Martin said that "our abortion hub navigators have been advised to not refer patients to telehealth providers at this time."

Since launching in November 2022, the city's Abortion Access Hub has served more than 12,000 individuals, according to statistics released by health department officials in January. Of those, 83% of calls from outside New York State were from states where abortion has been banned or restricted, including Florida, Texas and Georgia. 

Governor Kathy Hochul said he was "deeply disturbed" by the court's decision. 

"Here in New York, I have consistently stood up to protect access to medications like mifepristone and misoprostol, stepped up when the federal government stripped funding from Planned Parenthood to ensure New Yorkers could continue to access the care they need, and signed legislation to defend New York doctors who prescribe abortion medication by telehealth to patients who live in states that ban abortion," she said in a statement. "At a time when reproductive freedoms are under attack across our country, New York will continue to be a safe harbor for anyone providing or receiving this vital care."