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| Ensure Access to abortion |
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Improve access to early medical and early surgical abortion
There is not a single abortion provider in 84% of U.S. counties.
75% of Pennsylvania counties have no abortion provider. Between 1992 and 1996, the
number of providers fell from 81-61; a 25% loss. 1,584,870 women in Pennsylvania need
contraceptive services and supplies. 8.2% of women in Pennsylvania lack health insurance.
As a result, many women may be forced to terminate their pregnancies later and travel
hundreds of miles from home. New abortion procedures proven to be safe and effective
early in pregnancy could improve access to abortion by increasing women's options and
the number of providers of these services. Using ultrasound and manual vacuum aspiration
techniques, physicians can perform surgical abortions soon after the earliest point that
pregnancy can be confirmed, but few have been trained to do so. At the same time,
anti-choice intimidation has kept early medical abortion from American women.
Mifepristone was finally approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
on September 28, 2000, for use as an abortificient.
For more information on Mifepristone, please call one of our medical centers.
Guarantee the ability to exercise the right to choose for everyone
The vast majority of states severely restrict access to abortion for some of the most
vulnerable women among us - teenagers and the poor. At the same time, the
dwindling number of abortion providers takes a great toll on women living in
rural communities. Abortion training in medical schools, certification and
training of advanced practice nurses and physician assistants, a rollback of
restrictive laws, and a renewed commitment to providing care to
low-income women - all are needed to restore lost access to abortion.
Prevent violence at reproductive health care facilities
The federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE)
Act, signed into law in 1994, has decreased incidents of
violence and harassment at reproductive health care facilities.
Sadly, though, violence remains a fact of life for providers and
patients across the country. Threatening or violent behavior by protesters
continues to deny patients access to clinics providing family planning and
abortion services - and to discourage health care providers from offering this care.
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