Guam: The US territory where America's day begins but abortion access is still in the dark

Shandhini Raidoo; Bliss Kaneshiro; Paris Stowers

doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2021.03.030

Guam: The US territory where America's day begins but abortion access is still in the dark

Contraception. 2021 Jul;104(1):33-35. doi: 10.1016/j.contraception.2021.03.030. Epub 2021 Apr 5.

Authors

Shandhini Raidoo¹, Bliss Kaneshiro², Paris Stowers²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women's Health, University of Hawai'i John A. Burns School of Medicine, Honolulu, HI, United States. Electronic address: sraidoo@hawaii.edu.
² Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women's Health, University of Hawai'i John A. Burns School of Medicine, Honolulu, HI, United States.

PMID: 33831444
DOI: 10.1016/j.contraception.2021.03.030

Abstract

Despite a constitutional right to legal abortion, residents of the unincorporated United States territory of Guam have no local access to abortion. Telehealth has the potential to address this need. However, current abortion restrictions in the Guamanian legal code in combination with the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy requirements obstruct telehealth provision of medication abortion.

Keywords: Abortion access; Guam; Medication abortion; Mifepristone.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Abortion, Induced*
Abortion, Legal
Female
Guam
Humans
Mifepristone
Pregnancy
Telemedicine*
United States

Substances

Mifepristone