Coronavirus: how are abortions organized during confinement?

Since the announcement of confinement in France on March 17, the toll-free number of Family Planning responsible for answering questions of sexuality, contraception and voluntary terminations of pregnancy is taken by storm. "Most of the people on the phone are women who have just had a pregnancy test and learned that they are pregnant. They are worried, they wonder if they can have an abortion during confinement," says Sarah. Durocher, national co-chair of Family Planning, interviewed by France 24 on April 1.

The government, for its part, has taken emergency measures. He announced on Tuesday, March 23, having classified abortions by as "urgent interventions" so that their continuity is ensured.

Reproductive rights & confinement:

✅ Dispensing contraceptive pill ac expired prescription
✅ Emergency contraceptive available in pharma without prescription
✅ Doctors & SF authorized to practice induced abortion
✅ Telemedicine to accompany IVG med.
✅ @leplanning maintains its toll-free number pic.twitter.com/3rbbD0Zei4

The calls to Family Planning are very numerous, proof that the information has not passed for fifteen days. "Some women think that they do not have access to abortion, wrongly! The abortions are not interrupted during confinement, the professionals continue their work," recalls Family Planning. "If a woman is pregnant and this pregnancy is unwanted, she can go to a medical office, to a midwife, to a health center carrying out abortions," says Sarah Durocher.

Do you have questions about access to #contraception and # IVG? The listeners of the toll free number answer you and direct you to 0 800 08 11 11 from Monday to Saturday (9h-20h). pic.twitter.com/VrROBCn8Y9

Because if women call more, they move less. They come to have fewer abortions than before the confinement period. This is the observation made by abortion practitioners. "Young women are afraid to go out and our consultations are decreasing," warns Ghada Hatem, gynecologist-obstetrician, founder of the Maison des Femmes de Saint-Denis, interviewed by France Inter.

Abortions by preferred drugs

In the field, blocks dedicated to aspiration abortions, requiring local or general anesthesia, were requisitioned for resuscitation of patients with Covid-19, notes Family Planning.

The speech is intended to be reassuring: "We ensure continuity. This does not mean that women cannot have abortions, but they abort in a different way", says Sarah Durocher. In France, at the time of an abortion, women usually have the choice between several methods of abortion: by medication or by aspiration. "In the context of Covid-19, the choice of method is limited and drug abortions are preferred."

Teleconsultation, concentration of exams and abortion in a single medical visit ... Solutions are being studied by all abortion professionals to respond to all requests in the shortest possible time, while limiting the movement of patients.

For their part, the Family Planning activists identified each center providing abortion still open and each hospital service available. They guide women who call for local solutions, depending on their situation. "If some centers are closed to the public, antennas provide telephone reception and exchanges on social networks," said Sarah Durocher. (Toll free Family Planning number: 0 800 08 11 11 Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.).

Great concern for minors and victims of violence

The main concern of the associations is concentrated on isolated women, minors, and victims of violence, who already in usual times have difficulty accessing abortions. They fear that some will thus find themselves outside the legal time limit for an abortion and will reflect on diversion strategies.

"It is impossible for them to telephone in front of the people with whom they are in confinement and must wait a moment when they go out to be able to call us, which significantly increases the stress" noted Family Planning, which drew up a list of the reasons given by women who called the toll free number. "Confidentiality is impossible to maintain and drug abortion is often impossible in the parents' homes if they do not have to be informed," added the association. "The lack of money to perform a pregnancy test and the fact that there is no open structure nearby", are also part of the obstacles to access to abortion following the Covid epidemic -19.

Practitioners ready to defy the law

Faced with the urgency of the situation, more than a hundred abortion professionals published a column in the newspaper Le Monde on March 31. They are asking the State to extend the recommended times for carrying out abortions from 5 to 7 weeks of pregnancy for a medicated abortion at home. "This option is validated by the WHO and does not present any particular danger", indicate these actors of abortion in France.

Concerning abortion by aspiration, the practitioners wish to be able "on an exceptional basis during the period of confinement, to carry out aspirations up to 16 weeks of amenorrhea, that is to say 14 weeks of pregnancy." "These difficulties will force many women to keep their pregnancy against their will, endangering their autonomy and the future of children born under these conditions," they warn.

The signatories of the tribune have said that, in this context, they will not hesitate, if necessary, to "put themselves outside the law". Among them, Ghada Hatem, the obstetrician-gynecologist and founder of the Maison des femmes de Saint-Denis, warns that if these demands are not heard, she will "probably, perhaps" perform abortions outside of time.

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