Pill abortions drop after Missouri requires pelvic exams

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri health department said pill abortions in Missouri declined last year after the state began requiring pelvic exams on patients seeking the procedure.

The Department of Health and Senior Services said Missouri doctors performed 359 pill abortions last year, compared to 982 in 2017.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the 2017 figures don't include all pill abortions from November and December of that year.

Dr. Randall Williams, director of the state agency and a licensed obstetrician, said the reduction was at least partly because fewer women chose to have pill abortions after Missouri began enforcing a pelvic exam requirement early last year. He said many of the women seeking medication abortions now go to Illinois.

The state said 12.3% of all abortions in Missouri last year were medication abortions.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com