Plan C

Plan C conducts research and publicly shares information about how people are accessing mifepristone and misoprostol abortion pills in the US.

Their stated 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.{{cite news |last1=Khazan |first1=Olga |title=The Abortion Backup Plan No One Is Talking About |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/10/plan-c-secret-option-mail-order-abortion/620324 |work=The Atlantic |date=12 October 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.plancpills.org/about|title=About Us|publisher=Plan C|access-date=April 24, 2023}}

Plan C works in 4 ways.

1. They conduct research and share information regarding how people are accessing abortion pills in the United States, including domestic and global evidence about the safety and efficacy of medication abortion.
2. They work with health care providers, reproductive health organizations, and technology innovators to establish relationships and connect individuals.
3. They work to de-stigmatize and normalize self-managed abortion and advocate for universal over-the-counteraccess to abortion pills.
4. They work to disrupt the unjust barriers to access created by courts and lawmakers, and put agency back in the hands of individuals by bringing public attention to the transformative nature of abortion pills.

{{see also|Abortion-rights movements}}

During the 1990s, Elisa Wells and Francine Coeytaux were part of the team that successfully managed to get Plan B, or the morning after pill, approved by the FDA for over-the-counter sale.{{cite web|url=https://global-uploads.webflow.com/5f7e0692875fa8243cac6673/60ef1e8ff702fb5d7a239cf6_From%20Secret%20to%20Shelf%20(1).pdf|title=FROM SECRET TO SHELF: How collaboration is bringing emergency contraception to women|publisher=Pacific Institute for Women’s Health|access-date=May 5, 2023}}

In 2016, as the U.S. Presidential administration 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.{{cite web|url=https://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2018/images/10/22/plancreportcardnew.pdf|title=Plan C Report Card for online abortion pill suppliers|publisher=CNN|access-date=May 5, 2023}}

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 conducted a study to gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of individuals who utilize virtual clinics that serve patients throughout the United States.{{cite magazine|last1=Collins|first1=Lauren|title=The Complicated Life of the Abortion Pill: A French doctor's invention and post-Roe America|magazine=The New Yorker|date=July 5, 2022|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/11/the-complicated-life-of-the-abortion-pill|access-date=September 27, 2021}} 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.

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.{{cite news|last=Baker|first=Carrie N.|title=Funding Abortion Pills By Mail: 'Abortions Don't Wait'|work=Ms. Magazine|date=September 8, 2021|url=https://msmagazine.com/2022/06/03/funding-abortion-pills-by-mail-abortions-dont-wait/|access-date=September 27, 2021}}{{cite news|last=Way|first=Katie N.|title=How to Get an Abortion if You’re Under 18

|work=Vice|date=June 3, 2022|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-to-get-an-abortion-if-youre-under-18/|access-date=January 14, 2025}}

In April 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical community expedited the adoption of "no-test" protocols, which facilitated online abortion care, telehealth start-ups, and more clinics serving patients online.{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Pam Belluck|last2=Mitch|title=How Abortion Is Being Pushed to the Margins Amid the Pandemic|work=The New York Times|date=April 18, 2020|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/health/coronavirus-abortion-laws.html|access-date=September 27, 2021}} 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 (FDA) temporarily lifted restrictions on shipping mifepristone.{{cite magazine|last1=Murphy Winter|first1=Hannah|title=Inside the Fight to Make Abortions-by-Mail Possible — No Matter Which State You Live In|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=May 7, 2022|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/abortion-by-mail-laws-1343102/|access-date=September 27, 2021}} 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.{{cite news|last1=Leonard|first1=Ben|title=A scramble for telemedicine abortion|work=Politico|date=May 11, 2022|url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-ehealth/2022/05/11/a-scramble-for-telemedicine-abortion-00042206|access-date=September 27, 2021}} Several providers launched startups, including Abortion on Demand, Choix, Hey Jane, among others.

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 and Forward Midwifery.{{cite news|last1=Cohen|first1=Rachel|title=Should you keep abortion pills at home, just in case?|work=Vox|date=June 22, 2022|url=https://www.vox.com/2022/6/22/23170229/abortion-roe-medication-pills-pregnancy-unplanned|access-date=April 24, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.plancpills.org/guide-how-to-get-abortion-pills|title=How to Get Abortion Pills Online by Mail|publisher=Plan C|access-date=April 24, 2023}}

With the Dobbs decision and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, 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.

Due to increased competition among providers to appear in the first few results of Plan C' Guide, the costs for abortion pills by mail without clinician consultation decreasing to $25-28 in 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/key-facts-on-abortion-in-the-united-states/|title= Key Facts on Abortion in the United States |publisher=KFF C|access-date=January 15, 2025}} While the cost for abortion pills by mail including a telehealth consultation with a US-based clinician averaged $150, the lowest cost telehealth provider had begun offering their service in all 50 states for a minimum payment of $5.{{cite web|url=https://www.plancpills.org/abortion-pill/texas#pharmacies|title=Where People Get Abortion Pills Online in Texas|publisher=Plan C|access-date=January 15, 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cambridgereproductivehealthconsultants.org/map|title=The MAP|publisher=The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project|access-date=January 15, 2025}}

{{Main|Plan C (film)}}

The Plan C organization was the subject of a documentary film of the same name, Plan C, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/plan-c-review/|title=Abortion Pill Documentary Plan C Is an Affecting, Overwhelming Political Maelstrom|last=Oller|first=Jacob|date=January 23, 2023|website=Paste|access-date=January 31, 2023}} {{cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/plan-c-is-the-abortion-doc-that-rallied-activists-at-sundance/|title=‘Plan C’ Is the Abortion Doc That Rallied Activists at Sundance

|last=Peters|first=Fletcher|date=January 26, 2023|website=The Daily Beast|access-date=January 14, 2025}} The film focuses on Plan C's ongoing grassroots efforts to expand access to abortion across the United States via the distribution of at-home abortion pills ordered from the internet and delivered through the mail.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2023/film/features/plan-c-documentary-abortion-sundance-film-festival-1235493193/|title=How 'Plan C' Director Tracy Droz Tragos Plans to Make Noise About Abortion Access at Sundance Film Festival|last=Rubin|first=Rebecca|date=January 19, 2023|website=Variety|access-date=January 31, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/plan-c-review-1235311634/|title='Plan C' Review: Sensitive Doc Depicts Warriors for a Women's Right to Choose|last=Felperin|first=Leslie|date=January 27, 2023|website=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=January 31, 2023}} In May 2024, the film won a Webby Award for creatively using social media for advocacy. {{cite web|url=https://www.webbyawards.com/highlights-from-the-28th-annual-webby-awards/|title= Highlights from the 28th Annual Webby Awards|date=May 14, 2024|website=The Webby Awards|access-date=January 15, 2025}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.plancpills.org/ Plan C]
• [https://twitter.com/Plancpills Plan C on Twitter]

Category:Organizations established in 2015

Category:Women's health movement

Category:Abortion-rights organizations in the United States

Category:Feminism in the United States

Category:Health and disability rights organizations in the United States

Category:Health charities in the United States

Category:Medication abortion

Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States