The Feministing Five: Erin Davison-Rippey

In case you missed it, the Supreme Court of Iowa affirmed its support for more accessible abortion through something called telemedicine.  We spoke to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland Public Affairs Director Erin Davison-Rippey to learn more about the ruling, this innovative use of health technology, and where it might go from here.

Erin Davison-Rippey

Affordable and easy access to abortion providers has always been crucial to reproductive justice. As more and more states place restrictions on abortion care (*ahem here’s looking at you Texas ahem*), providers continue to look for new ways of being there for their clients. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland (serving Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and Eastern Oklahoma) started using telemedicine for abortions back in 2008. But since then, they have faced significant legal challenges from the state’s Board of Medicine. However, just this month, they were awarded a huge victory by the Iowa Supreme Court. It’s a great example of how to put patients’ needs first, tackle a pervasive problem with new tools, and advocate to stop unjust denial of services. Well done Erin and well done Planned Parenthood of the Heartland!

SB: Thanks so much for speaking with us today! To get us started, could you provide some context on this Iowa Supreme Court decision? 

EDR: We’ve been waiting for months for this decision from the Iowa Supreme Court. The Court has ruled that the use of telehealth, or the use of a telemedicine system, for medical abortion that we pioneered in Iowa is indeed safe. The ruling also stated that the efforts by the Board of Medicine in Iowa to block the system were held as unconstitutional.

This has been a long journey. We have used telemedicine with abortions since 2008 and have seen over 7,000 patients with this system. It’s reported to be safe, and patients report a high level of satisfaction with it. Unfortunately, the governor, who has been very public with his anti-abortion stance, appointed all of the members of the current Board of Medicine. A Right to Life group petitioned them and gave them a set of rules that they then adopted with almost no discussion that banned the use of telemedicine just for abortion, not for any other procedure. We challenged that policy in court, both the Iowa District and Supreme Court and received a resounding ruling in support of everything that we had said, that it was a safe system and that it was a politically motivated attack. We are very excited and happy about this ruling.

SB: A bit of a background question, but what exactly is telemedicine? 

EDR: Telemedicine is a technology that is really gaining momentum across all areas of medicine. It’s being used from everything like psychology and cardiology. It’s different for each application, but here at Planned Parenthood, we use it for medical abortions.

Here’s how it works. Let’s say a patient is in one of our health centers, generally in a rural or underserved area, and they go through exactly the same process as they would if they don’t use telemedicine. They interact with our health professionals, go through the tests, screenings, and education sessions. Then, the physician and patient have a conversation that is done over a two way video secure system. When the doctor decides that the patient can do a medication abortion after reviewing all of the information, the doctor is able to remotely dispense the medication by unlocking a secure drawer. Next the patient will take the medication in view of the physician, and is then sent home with the second medication in the next couple of days. The patient will return to the health center for a check-up.

SB: How did Planned Parenthood of the Heartland decide to apply this medical technique in Iowa? 

EDR: Iowa is a very rural state. We have a couple of population centers, but we also have a lot of rural farm land. When we looked at how to best serve our patients, we knew that they need remote access.  When my colleagues saw how the use of telemedicine was growing, especially to underserved communities, they realized it would be a great way to provide abortion access to folks across the state.

SB: This seems like an extremely impactful way to maintain access to reproductive justice! Do you know of other organizations who are employing telemedicine in this way? 

EDR: We are aware that there are some folks in Minnesota who are using telemedicine, but other than that, there are not a lot of groups. It’s another reason why this ruling was so important. Folks across the country are looking at Iowa to see if they can expand access. Unfortunately, in the past legislative session 18 states have preemptively banned the use of telemedicine for medical abortions even though telemedicine is not being used there. It’s a challenge certainly for those 18 states.

SB: Let’s say that you are stranded on a desert island. You get to take with you one food, one drink, and one feminist. What do you choose? 

EDR: Since we are in a celebratory mood, I’d bring some champagne, a cupcake, and I’d bring my grandmother. She might not have realized that she was a feminist, but she raised some really strong girls and laid the foundation for turning into the full blown feminist that I am today. I would love to have some more conversations with her about how that happened.