Login
Back to BlogRoe v wade overturned: 6 Tips from Dr. Yen
Now that Roe is gone, here are 6 tips from a doctor, mother, and feminist.
I am a mother of 2 teenage daughters and a physician that specializes in adolescents and young adults as well as the CEO/Founder of the ONLY women-founded, women-led/doctor founded, doctor-led birth control delivery company. So one can imagine I was horrified by the reversal of Roe V Wade, which is why I compiled these tips to help people during post-Roe times.
Plan C Pills
Know about Plan C Pills. www.plancpills.org is a non profit that has all the info you need about medication abortion. You can get pills in ADVANCE of need. It costs about $150. Just type in your state and to learn about all of your options for telemedicine abortion.
Know that if you need go to the Emergency Room, there is no way to distinguish spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) from medication abortion. But if you are in an anti-abortion state, they could see pills in your vagina if you chose to take the misoprostol intravaginally versus buccally.
Medication abortion is Mifepristone 1 pill and then 4 pills of misoprostol. Both pills are “safer than tylenol” meaning that with tylenol you can hurt your liver, and kill yourself. Mifepristone is an anti-progesterone. Misoprostol causes cramping and expulsion of the uterine contents. The result is like a miscarriage.
Medication abortion can only be used up to 10 weeks. And now each state has different cut offs. So as soon as you think you’re pregnant, do a pregnancy test. A blood pregnancy test will pick up a pregnancy faster than a urine pregnancy test. A blood pregnancy test can pick up a pregnancy as soon as 6-8 days after ovulation, but most doctors won’t order it until you have missed your period which is 14 days after ovulation.
Check what states banned abortion
Check this website by the Center For Reproductive Rights (THE legal arm of the reproductive rights movement in the US) for state by state information on abortion laws. Know where your state stands on abortion so you can properly protect yourself and plan in case of emergency. Also, if you live in a state where you feel your reproductive rights have been taken away or severely restricted –vote, get friends that support reproductive rights to vote!
While we believe it is important to take a stand, we also do not want to see women go to jail in hostile states. Have a plan if you live in a restricted state and know if you live in a ‘sanctuary state.’
Get your birth control delivered to your home with Pandia Health
Get your birth control under control a.k.a. automated. If you can, get the implant or the IUD (intrauterine device). Did you know the implant works better than vasectomy in preventing pregnancy and the IUD with hormone beats tubal ligation? If you’re not ready for those methods or can’t get access, consider trying a birth control delivery service like Pandia Health for FREE delivery of birth control pills or Twirla Patch.
If you are in a state where Pandia Health can write you a prescription, it is only $25 a year to use our expert birth control doctors with unlimited follow up questions about birth control for 1 year! Pandia Health also offers ‘transfer’ services, where you can transfer a prescription at a pharmacy written by your healthcare provider to a Pandia Health partner pharmacy for FREE delivery and goodies (valid in all 50 states)!
Buy emergency contraception
What your doctor and you don’t know about emergency contraception could end up being the difference between pregnancy/no pregnancy! Get emergency contraception to have on hand in case of emergency. If your BMI (Body Mass Index) is 26 or greater, Plan B and its generics do NOT work so well. Before buying emergency contraception, CHECK your BMI here (you just need your height and weight).
At Pandia Health, we recommend Ella (ulipristal acetate) because it works BETTER than Plan B and its generics (levonorgestrel 1.5 mg) at EVERY time point (see chart below) and works to a BMI of 35. If it were me, my daughter, my friend, my patient, I would go with Ella. Under the Affordable Care Act, (thanks former President Obama and current President Biden) any FDA approved birth control should be covered by insurance for “free” = no copay, no deductible. So if you have insurance and a doctor to write the prescription, Ella is “free”. If you don’t have insurance, Ella is $42-$51 and Plan B generics are $10-$48.
Help each other
Know about the National Network of Abortion Funds. You can apply for funds by state fund or if you have money to donate, you can DONATE to help others. These funds are also used to fund travel for abortions for those living in restricted states.
Delete your period apps
Delete your period apps if you are in a state that is anti-abortion or that will send you to jail or fine you for an abortion. I went to MIT and have friends that work in computer forensics. If it was ever on your phone and synchronized with the cloud, then your information is out there.
Vote, donate, volunteer: get active!
Get ANGRY and ACTIVE. VOTE for, DONATE to, VOLUNTEER for, AMPLIFY pro-choice, pro-women, pro-bodily-autonomy candidates for Senate, US House of Rep, Governor, Secretary of State, ANY position of power. e.g. Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock for U.S. Senate and EMILY’s List (prochoice democratic women running for office).
Keep you updated, educated
List of resources/links
www.plancpills.orgwww.abortionfunds.org/need-abortion/www.reproductiverights.org/maps/what-if-roe-fell/
Some documentaries made in the last decade about Abortion
- (HBO) 2022 ( the Chicago activists that helped women get abortions)
- (POV) 2013 (who are the doctors left to perform late term abortions, what risks they face)
- (Netflix) 2018
- (PBS) 2016
- (HBO) 2010
Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa
- (Topic) 2020
- (HBO) 2017 https://www.hbo.com/movies/abortion-stories-women-tell
Fictional movies about abortion
Call Jane 2022 with Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Wunmi Mosaku, Chris MessinaUnpregnant
- (HBOmax) 2020 roadtrip to get an abortion