The August 2011 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology discusses the emerging practice of providing medical abortions via telephone in Effectiveness and Acceptability of Medical Abortion Provided Through Telemedicine. Interestingly the study reports slightly higher abortion completion rates among patients served through telemedicine (99%) over those provided services face-to-face (97%). The study also reports that twenty-five percent of telemedicine patients said they would have preferred being in the same room with the doctor. No significant differences in the prevalence of adverse events were reported during the study period among telemedicine patients compared with face-to-face patients.
Obstetrics & Gynecology: August 2011 – Volume 118 – Issue 2, Part 1 – pp 296-303
doi: 10.1097/AOG.0b013e318224d110
Teresa Collett
Teresa Stanton Collett is a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she teaches bioethics, property law, and constitutional law. A nationally prominent speaker and scholar, she is active in attempts to rebuild the Culture of Life and protect the institutions of marriage and family. She often represents groups of state legislators, the Catholic Medical Association, and the Christian Medical and Dental Association in appellate case related to medical-legal matters. She represented the governors of Minnesota and North Dakota before the U.S. Supreme Court as amici curiae regarding the effectiveness of those states’ parental involvement laws. She has served as special attorney general for Oklahoma and Kansas related to legislation designed to protect the well-being of minors and unborn children. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and has testified before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittees on the Constitution, as well as numerous legislative committees in the states.