To the editor:

Roe is gone. But we have much to celebrate!

The vast majority of Americans support safe, legal abortion and timely, expert care for miscarriage management, early pregnancy failure and any complications of pregnancy. The risks of pregnancy surpass the risks of safe, legal abortion by 14 times.

Medications proven safe after more than 20 years in this country — and longer around the world — will become more available at pharmacies, be legally sourced, prescribed via telemedicine and be able to be mailed by the USPS.

The pandemic normalized telemedicine and increased overall access to abortion care, allowed avoidance of frightening protestors at clinics and increased privacy. Growing reliable support systems (Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline or M-and-A Hotline: mahotline.org) have allowed medication abortion or self-managed abortion/miscarriage to surpass in-clinic procedures with documented safety and efficacy. Telemedicine is growing!

In addition to previously passed provider safeguards, the state Senate has introduced new legislation forbidding sanctioning of any kind (criminal, civil, professional) of legally protected health activity including provision to patients residing in restricted states.

One new battleground will be pharmacist refusal to dispense FDA-approved meds.

Pharmacist conscience provisions give great power to pharmacists to refuse to dispense prescriptions, but only a few kinds of prescriptions cause pharmacists to exercise that right — contraception, Plan B (taken after unprotected intercourse) and abortion medications. Viagra is dispensed without inquiring about marital status. Sterile needles are available over the counter whether you are a drug user or a diabetic.

Narcan is dispensed in advance of need to reverse a narcotic overdose without interrogation about one’s personal drug habit.

Those of us who support kind, modern abortion care have consciences, too, which are protected by the law. It is only the refusers who get attention and the power to obstruct. Intimidation both BY and OF pharmacies/pharmacists, and of patients, is likely. Pharmaceutical companies have stated that a pharmacist must state in advance an intention to refuse to fill a particular prescription and must immediately refer the patient to a pharmacist who will. This will be neither transparent nor workable.

Anyone who is pregnant, could get pregnant, or could get someone pregnant, lives in a restricted state, wishes to work in one, wishes to go to school in one, or go on vacation in one or even transit one must plan ahead!

Acquire meds in advance, have birth control in place (because Student Health won’t help), hope a pregnancy complication doesn’t occur, or worry once a month about risk, relationships, healthy sexuality or ever showing up at an ER!

This 50th Roe Anniversary on Jan. 22, 2023, I honor thousands worldwide who are helping girls/women protect themselves from the risks of pregnancy, often occurring in settings of terrifying assault, extreme youth and starvation. I honor those in our affluent, modern country helping girls/women protect themselves from the risks of pregnancy often amidst daily misery, fear, chaos and cruelty.

Honor women by talking about abortion.

Dorothy Federman, MD

Saranac Lake