Plan C is a non-profit organization and campaign that provides educational resources and information to increase access to

medication abortion A medical abortion, also known as medication abortion, occurs when drugs (medication) are used to bring about an abortion. Medical abortions are an alternative to surgical abortions such as vacuum aspiration or dilation and curettage. Medical ...

(abortion with pills) in the United States. It was founded in 2015 by

Francine Coeytaux Francine Coeytaux, founder of the Pacific Institute for Women's Health, is an American-based French public health specialist and abortion rights activist who has developed and evaluated family planning and reproductive health programs. She is know ...

, Elisa Wells, and Amy Merrill as a project under the fiscal sponsorship of the

National Women's Health Network The National Women's Health Network (NWHN) is a non-profit women's health advocacy organization located in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1975 by Barbara Seaman, Alice Wolfson, Belita Cowan, Mary Howell, and Phyllis Chesler. The stated missi ...

Objectives

Plan C works towards expanding access to medication abortion through the distribution of

mifepristone Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, is a medication typically used in combination with misoprostol to bring about a medical abortion during pregnancy and manage early miscarriage. This combination is 97% effective during the first 63 days of p ...

and misoprostol at-home abortion pills ordered from the internet and delivered through the mail. Their states goal is to transform access to abortion in the United States by normalizing the self-directed option of abortion pills by mail and placing the ability to end an early pregnancy directly in the hands of anyone who seeks it.

Actions

Plan C works in 4 ways.

They conduct research and share information regarding how people are accessing abortion pills in the United States.
They work with
health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
providers, reproductive health organizations, and technology innovators to establish relationships and connect individuals.
They work to destigmatize and normalize self-managed abortion and call for universal access to abortion pills.
They advocate for
over-the-counter Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may be supplied only to consumers possessing a valid prescr ...
access to abortion pills.

History

1990's

During the 1990s, Elisa Wells and Francine Coeytaux were part of the team that successfully managed to get

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B En ...

, or the

morning after pill Emergency contraception (EC) is a birth control measure, used after sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy. There are different forms of EC. Emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs), sometimes simply referred to as emergency contraceptives (ECs), o ...

, approved by the

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...

for over-the-counter sale.

2016

In 2016, as the U.S. Presidential

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

turned over, Plan C launched their website to share information about online abortion pill providers and the self-managed abortion process. The Plan C team began researching websites calling themselves online pharmacies and claiming to sell abortion pills, tested the pills received by mail from those websites, and published their findings as the Plan C Report Card.

2018

In 2018, Plan C played a significant role in the launch of the CHAT study (California Home Abortion by Telehealth) in which researchers at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

conducted a study to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of individuals who utilize virtual clinics that serve patients throughout the United States. This study was a crucial step towards not only normalizing telehealth services and online access to pills but also in documenting and researching their effectiveness and safety, and validating them as a viable option for individuals seeking reproductive healthcare.

2019

As of 2019, there were dozens of websites selling abortion pills and the Plan C website was receiving over 50,000 visitors per month from individuals across all 50 states in search of information on abortion pill access and

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest on t ...

2020

In April 2020, at the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the medical community expedited the adoption of "no-test" protocols, which facilitated online abortion care,

telehealth Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. It allows long-distance patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, mon ...

start-ups, and more clinics serving patients online. As certain states deemed abortions nonessential medicine, and the majority of the country was subjected to "safer at home" orders restricting access to basic medical care, the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

(FDA) temporarily lifted restrictions on shipping mifepristone. During this time, Plan C issued a "call to providers" to inform the medical community of the growing need and the opportunity to serve patients by offering telehealth abortion services. Several providers launched startups, including Abortion on Demand, Choix, Hey Jane, among others.

2022

In 2022, Plan C expanded their online resource directory to include organizations that offer the advance provision of abortion pills, a service that creates the option to order abortion pills in advance so they will be available if they are needed at some point in the future. Organizations listed by Plan C that offer the advance provision service include

Aid Access Aid Access is a nonprofit organization that provides access to medication abortion by mail to the United States and worldwide. It describes its work as a harm reduction strategy designed to provide safe access to mifepristone and misoprostol for p ...

and Forward Midwifery.

2023

With the Dobbs decision and the overturning of

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...

, Plan C has responded by increasing the information they make available regarding alternate ways to access abortion pills and resources to help people safely self-manage their own abortions at home.

Plan C documentary

The Plan C organization was the subject of a documentary film of the same name, '' Plan C (film)'', which premiered at the

2023 Sundance Film Festival The 2023 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to 29, 2023. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 7, 2022. Films U.S. Dramatic Competition * ''The Accidental Getaway Driver'', directed by Sing J. Lee * ...

on January 23, 2023. The film focuses on Plan C's ongoing

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

efforts to expand access to

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

across the United States via the distribution of at-home abortion pills ordered from the internet and delivered through the mail.

References

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External links

Plan CPlan C on Twitter
Organizations established in 2015 Women's health movement Abortion-rights organizations in the United States Feminism in the United States Health and disability rights organizations in the United States Health charities in the United States Non-profit organizations based in the United States