In the months that have passed since the US Supreme Court decided to overturn the ruling allowing abortions in every state in the US, it turns out that the states in the US where there are laws to prevent abortions are indeed determined to enforce them. This was not a false alarm or a technical issue.
Already on the same day that the new ruling was accepted, appointments for abortions were canceled and women quickly turned to look for solutions in a country that allows abortions. Seven states in the southern US ban abortions almost completely. Four more states partially ban abortions, and in other states the situation is currently under legal discussion.
How does the change affect the pharma market in the US, to which the Israeli companies in the field are also keeping an eye?
The most direct impact is, of course, on companies that supply drugs for abortions, and indirectly – on telemedicine companies. Medical abortions today account for about 50% of abortions in the US. After a legal battle, today it is allowed to prescribe abortion drugs in an online medical appointment. However, according to the law, a woman today has to be in a country where abortions are allowed when she receives the service, even if it is online, for it to be Telemedicine companies should decide if they encourage this use of their service, and if so – how they support its users.
Women who are insured with a company located in a country where abortion is prohibited may not be able to get financing for the abortion pill from their local insurance company. It is possible that this will bring about a change in the insurance market in a way that will encourage the purchase of policies from non-state-based companies, or special policies for the insurance of an abortion performed outside the country of residence, as far as the law allows.
Medical abortion is the simpler way for a woman to have an abortion outside the country where she lives, so the demand for medical abortions is expected to increase, at the expense of surgical abortions. Consumers are expected to look for new solutions in this area, including cheaper ones.
Contraceptives are back
Another area that is expected to undergo changes is the field of contraceptives. In recent years, the emphasis in the discourse regarding contraceptives has been safety. Hormone-based solutions dominate the market, but there has also been a return to mechanical solutions, such as condoms and diaphragms, to avoid the hormonal influence. Also, solutions based on tracking the menstrual cycle have grown in the market. These solutions show a lower efficiency than a hormonal solution (perfectly used in both solutions) but they have fewer side effects. As abortions are less accessible, the market is expected to be shifted in the direction of contraceptive solutions that are considered more effective, even at the cost of side effects.
Even the demand for sterilization is on the rise. Women who in the past decided they didn’t want children but kept the option for themselves, are now more afraid that the possibility of choosing will be denied to them from the other direction, and turn to the most unambiguous solution. Some even say that in today’s political climate in the US, it is impossible to even count on continued access to contraceptives in the future, and the only thing that can be counted on is sterilization.
Also, there was an increase in demand for “morning after” pills, which are still allowed for free use in the US, because according to the latest scientific understanding, they prevent ovulation and do not prevent the implantation of an existing embryo (which would have been considered an abortion). Pharmacies in the US reported for a hundreds of percent increase in demand for these products. In the absence of abortions, an increase in the use of these products is expected.
As for the prevention methods based on monitoring the period, these often include the use of digital applications. However, the concern arose that the information stored in this application could be used in the future as evidence that a woman became pregnant, or when her pregnancy began. Therefore, women in countries that ban abortion or may ban abortion in the future have become wary of using them or sharing information with them, and many women have stopped using these apps all at once.
This also has significance for the world of research. For example, studies that tried to evaluate the effect of the corona disease or the corona vaccines on the menstrual cycle, asked to receive (anonymous) information from these apps. If women stop using them or share incomplete or unreliable information, it will not be possible to conduct research using those apps.
Use of life-threatening drugs
When abortions are prohibited, women may also resort to life-threatening measures to terminate a pregnancy. A number of drugs against cancer and autoimmune diseases can lead to the termination of pregnancy, and there is a fear that women will purchase these drugs to perform an abortion, even though they are not intended for this. From this, a black market of cancer or autoimmune disease patients can be created, who trade in their medicines, due to the double plight – on the one hand – of women who cannot have an abortion. On the other hand – patients who have deteriorated into poverty because of the structure of the American health care system.
There is still no evidence of the existence of this black market, but the insurance companies are already wary and refuse to provide the drugs to some of their patients. Several patients have already stated on social media that they are unable to obtain the drugs.
The abortion ruling shows how a single legislative change can have far-reaching, sometimes difficult to predict, effects on the entire system.