A startup focusing on abortion pills wants women to stockpile them, even before they’re pregnant.
Choix (pronounced “choice”) recently received $1 million from venture capitalists, and is preparing to launch its business. For $289, Choix will connect women with an abortionist after filling out an online questionnaire, and will then mail them the abortion pills. Currently, Choix is able to operate in California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine and New Mexico — and it doesn’t want women to wait until they’re pregnant to get the pills.
All that is needed to get the abortion pills is to fill out a five-question form, and then the pills are sent within a matter of days. Women are asked to return for a telehealth appointment if they get pregnant later, but there is no mandate for them to do so. While CBS Money Watch presented this as a positive service for women, none of the risks were presented at all.
Co-founder and CEO Cindy Adam told CBS Money Watch, “Advance provision is the same medication, it’s just providing the pills in case a patient needs them in the future and decides to use them,” Adam said, explaining that it “helps alleviate the stress and barriers that come with accessing a highly stigmatized and politicized form of care — even in states where abortion is legal — by putting the power to decide back into the hands of that person seeking care.”
READ: Ms. Magazine editor orders ‘advanced provision’ abortion pills to keep for a ‘rainy day’
She also said having the abortion pill readily available can help women feel less worried about a possible pregnancy.
“Our experience has been that for some people, the period between finding out that they’re pregnant and receiving abortion pills in the mail or the wait time associated with in-person care can be extremely stressful,” Adam said. “And that’s compounded by the current legal and logistical challenges people face. This helps reduce those barriers.”
One study found that the abortion pill is four times more dangerous than first trimester surgical abortion; mild side effects include cramping, nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, while more serious complications include uterine hemorrhaging, viral infections, sepsis, vaginitis, and even death.*
These risks are undoubtedly higher without any medical supervision, as it’s impossible to verify gestational age or rule out extrauterine pregnancies without an ultrasound first. And taking the abortion pill after 10 weeks gestation can be dangerous; at least two women in the United Kingdom died in 2020 after taking the abortion pill without supervision (due to abortion by mail’s availability during the COVID-19 pandemic), and a 28-week preborn child also died.
Furthermore, these online abortion businesses have no way of verifying that the person requesting the pills is the woman intending to take them — or is a woman at all. Men have been known to order abortion pills online and then force pregnant partners into unknown, unwanted abortions. And with a business model like Choix, it’ll be even easier for men to have supplies of abortion pills readily available, to give to any unsuspecting woman they choose.
Every time someone wants to order abortion pills, Choix receives hundreds of dollars. By convincing women they need to stockpile them, Choix profits financially, and avoids any of the horrific consequences that may follow.
*Editor’s Note: The FDA has received reports of serious adverse events in women who took Mifeprex. As of December 31, 2018, there were reports of 24 deaths of women associated with Mifeprex since the product was approved in September 2000, including two cases of ectopic pregnancy resulting in death; and several cases of severe systemic infection (also called sepsis), including some that were fatal. The adverse events cannot with certainty be causally attributed to mifepristone because of concurrent use of other drugs, other medical or surgical treatments, co-existing medical conditions, and information gaps about patient health status and clinical management of the patient. A summary report of adverse events that reflects data through December 31, 2018, is here.
