The ruling has only been out a couple hours but doctors are already reciving calls and requests from worried patients. News4’s Aimee Cho reports on the urgent requests for doctors.
Abortion telemedicine providers say they saw a huge spike in demand and concern from pregnant people after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling Friday on abortion.
“The phones, emails, messaging, everything is ringing off the hook. People are just panicking about what they need to do,” said Dr. Jayaram Brindala, founder of Abortion Telemedicine.
Brindala founded the practice last month and mails abortion pills to D.C. and 16 states.
“We have several providers, so I just messaged everyone in the last 30 minutes, please add more hours, we want to serve as many people as possible,” Brindala said.
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The group Abortion On Demand, which mails pills to 22 states, also said they experienced a spike in requests.
“Some people are confused. Some people who’ve already had visits with us are calling to make sure they’re still going to have their pills mailed to them,” Leah Coplon, director of clinical operations, said.
Carafem, an at-home abortion pill provider and clinic, also described an increase in calls. The nonprofit sends pills to 14 states and D.C. and has clinic locations across the United States.
“It’s important for us to clarify that the doors are still open right now, and that this effect is going to be a rolling effect over time,” said Melissa Grant, chief operations officer at Carafem.
Maryland law protects access to abortion. While Carafem’s clinic in Montgomery County likely will not be affected by Friday’s ruling, Grant said their clinic in Nashville will.
“We fully expect that in the coming days we will lose the ability to provide service in the way that we have in some of the communities where we’re located,” Grant said.
In areas where abortion is banned, Grant said Carafem will still offer services such as birth control.
