Changes in Support for Advance Provision and Over-the-Counter Access to Medication Abortion

Abstract

Importance: Since Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization (Dobbs) removed federal abortion protections, people's views about alternative models of abortion care may have been impacted, yet research on this topic is limited.

Objective: To examine changes in national support for and personal interest in advance provision (AP) and over-the-counter (OTC) access to medication abortion.

Design, setting, and participants: Two nationally representative cross-sectional online surveys were administered to a market research firm's panel members who were assigned female at birth (AFAB) and aged 15 to 49 years from December 2021 to January 2022 (before Dobbs) and June to July 2023 (after Dobbs). Data were analyzed from February 2023 to June 2024.

Exposure: Completion of survey before and after Dobbs.

Main outcomes and measures: Changes from before to after Dobbs in 4 primary outcome measures were examined: support for and personal interest in AP and OTC access to medication abortion.

Results: A total of 6982 AFAB people before Dobbs and 3561 after Dobbs completed at least 1 of 4 primary outcome measures. From before to after Dobbs, 2666 (weighted 31.3%) and 1258 (weighted 30.1%) were aged 30 to 39 years, 1395 (21.4%) and 708 (21.5%) reported their race and ethnicity as Hispanic/Latinx, 594 (13.7%) and 304 (13.6%) as Black non-Hispanic/Latinx, and 4504 (54.6%) and 2270 (54.2%) as White non-Hispanic/Latinx. There was a significant increase from before to after Dobbs in national support for AP (48.9% before; 95% CI, 47.1% to 50.6%; 55.1% after; 95% CI, 52.8% to 57.3%) and OTC access (49.4% before; 95% CI, 47.6% to 51.1%; 55.2% after; 95% CI, 52.9% to 57.5%) and an increase in personal interest in AP (23.6% before; 95% CI, 22.2% to 25.1%; 26.4% after; 95% CI, 24.3% to 28.4%) and OTC access (36.0% before; 95% CI, 34.3% to 37.6%; 42.5% after; 95% CI, 40.2% to 44.7%). Among people living in states with abortion bans, larger increases in personal interest in AP (5.3 percentage points [pp]; 95% CI, 0.5 to 10.3 pp) and OTC access (9.4 pp; 95% CI, 3.9 to 14.9 pp) were observed than among people in states without bans (1.4 pp; 95% CI, -1.7 to 4.6 pp and 5.4 pp; 95% CI, 2.0 to 8.9 pp, respectively).

Conclusions and relevance: In this serial cross-sectional analysis of people aged 15 to 49 years before Dobbs and 1 year after Dobbs, findings suggested that national support for expanded access to medication abortion has grown. Alternative models of care, such as AP and OTC, have the potential to offer a promising approach to abortion care, particularly for people living in abortion-restricted states.