The phone hasn’t stopped ringing for a year. Linda Prine, a doctor from New York, keeps repeating these instructions: “Make sure you drink plenty of water”, “Take ibuprofen, it helps”, “Everything seems to be going well, you can relax.”
The hotline she cofounded, which is run by around 70 volunteer health professionals, aims to answer questions from women who want an abortion in the United States. In particular, questions from those who perform homeonly medical abortions without seeing a doctor because the procedure is now illegal in their state.
In 2019, faced with increasing restrictions from Donald Trump’s administration, Prine and another colleague decided to set up this hotline. A total of twelve were adopted during the mandate.
Then, a year ago, the Supreme Court overturned federal protections against abortion. And shortly thereafter, about 15 states banned or severely restricted voluntary abortion.
The decision led to a “huge increase” in calls, the doctor told AFP.
Prine is on vacation in a small rental house near New York, but still takes the calls. Within four hours he receives 13 people and replies to another 18 people via SMS.
“I used to be able to do other things at the same time. Now sometimes I don’t even have time to go to the toilet,” laughs the activist, who has been campaigning for abortion rights for decades. The shifts are sometimes “exhausting,” he admits.
How to find abortion pills is the main concern of the callers. The “hotline” does not offer the pills directly, but instead directs women to other places.
In states where abortion is banned, it is still possible to apply for it from abroad. Many call after ingestion to make sure about the procedure.
Pregnancy tests can be positive up to several weeks after a miscarriage, which can be confusing. Prine tirelessly asks benevolently, “Before taking the pills, did you have any chest pains, fatigue, and nausea?” Have those symptoms “gone away”?
Sometimes these women’s distress comes from bleeding that lasts for several weeks, which can be normal. “Most of the time we don’t give medical advice. We calm down,” explains Prine.
“The medical aspect (of the procedure) is very safe, but the fear and anxiety part is very complicated,” he said. For fear of being denounced, many do not tell anyone and feel very alone.
“You can hear from the callers’ voices that they are grateful to have someone to talk to who can answer their questions.”
The phone line is manned 18 hours a day. Most volunteers are general practitioners and patients remain anonymous.
This morning one of them says she’s calling from Texas, a state where abortion is now illegal, including for rape.
“I’m sorry you live in such a terrible condition,” the doctor said sympathetically to the other woman.