Frequently Asked Questions
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Abortion Care
Unfortunately, it depends where you live. Since the US Supreme Court reversed the federal law’s protection of a person’s right to have an abortion in June 2022, individual states can now decide whether or not abortion is legal. As a result, the laws protecting people’s right to abortions and those laws criminalizing abortion are changing rapidly. For the most up-to-date information about where abortion is legal and with which restrictions, you can go to either Abortion Finder’s State by State Guide or I Need An A’s Advanced Search. If you have personal concerns about legality or have specific legal questions, please visit or call If/When/How’s Repro Legal Helpline.
Medically licensed, specially trained Choix providers offer medication abortion care via telehealth. At Choix, we deliver telehealth via online medical questionnaires, email, text, and our patient portal. All you need is a phone or a computer with internet access.
Choix nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives provide the safest and most-effective medications, following the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s approved protocol of mifepristone followed by misoprostol. You can learn more about how medication abortion via telehealth works with Choix.
While Choix does not offer surgical or in-clinic abortions, we want to make sure you have the information you need to make the right decision for your circumstances. Understanding the differences between a surgical (in-clinic) abortion and medication abortion can help you feel more secure about your choice. If you are seeking an in-clinic abortion, here is a list of Choix-approved links to abortion clinics and providers:
• Abortion Finder – Power to Decide
• I Need An A
• Abortion Care Network
• National Abortion Federation
• Planned Parenthood
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permanently approved mailing the two medications used most commonly for medication abortion (mifepristone and misoprostol) to all 50 states in December 2021. However, individual state laws can still make mailing medication abortion pills illegal. And even before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 2022, 20 states already required a physician (doctor) to be physically present when providing the pills for medication abortions to pregnant people.
Currently, Choix can legally provide medication abortion services via telehealth to people in California, Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Maine and Virginia, and we will continue to expand to every state where we can safely and legally provide abortion care. Our goal is to be in every single one of those states by the end of 2023.
The simple answer to this complicated question is No. There is no Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medication or treatment you can take to reverse your medication abortion.
You may have heard claims, reports, or even been told by some health professionals that there are treatments that can reverse a medication abortion. Some states require health professionals to tell patients this incorrect medical information.
No reliable medical studies have shown that medication abortions can be reversed. There is insufficient scientific data to claim that medication abortion reversal treatments are reliable, effective, or safe. This is why several medical and scientific organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the FDA, reject false claims about medication abortion reversal.
The more complicated answer is that some small studies show that if you do not take the second medication (misoprostol) after taking the first (mifepristone), the abortion is less likely to work, meaning pregnancies continue to term. Choix offers a helpful 5-minute video explainer that walks you through these steps of a medication abortion if you have questions.
Our trained abortion care providers are here to provide private, convenient, and compassionate abortion care. If you have questions about your abortion decision, we can help provide you with resources to support you in making the right choice for you.
CPCs are anti-abortion organizations that aim to keep pregnant people from having an abortion. They may also be called pregnancy resource centers, pregnancy care clinics, or women’s health centers. While they may have ultrasound machines, staff in white coats, professional websites, and offer free pregnancy tests, pregnancy counseling, or sexually-transmitted infection screening, they rarely provide actual health care. Most CPCs in the U.S. are affiliated with national religious organizations that oppose abortion and have policies against promoting and providing contraception. CPCs try to trick pregnant people into visiting their clinic by offering free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, or pregnancy information. You can trust Choix to provide truthful, nonjudgmental care and support around all your sexual and reproductive health needs, including abortion care.
Choix partners with an online pharmacy called HoneyBee Health. This independent, mail-order pharmacy dispenses other medications besides abortion pills, so you don’t have to worry about anyone knowing that you are receiving abortion medications by mail. HoneyBee is an accredited, certified pharmacy that maintains the highest confidentiality, security, and quality levels. Medications will arrive in a generic bubble mailer and only includes the pharmacy’s return address.
Once you have texted with your Choix provider, they have reviewed your medical history, and you have signed the necessary consent forms, HoneyBee Health Pharmacy will ship your abortion pills via FedEx, unless you are shipping to a P.O. Box, in which case your order will be shipped via USPS. Your medications should arrive within 3-5 business days.
Want to receive the the medications more quickly? Choix and HoneyBee Health Pharmacy offer expedited shipping for an additional $25, and you should receive your medication within 1-2 business days.
The cost for abortion care with Choix is $289. If you need financial assistance, we work with abortion fund partners to provide financial assistance for Choix patients. No proof of need is required. Funding ranges from partial to full amount of care, depending on need and fund availability. We are committed to making abortion care accessible to all.
This cost includes the initial consultation fee of $20, medications for the abortion (mifeprisone and misoprostol) and to alleviate pain and nausea, all follow-up visits, and standard shipping.
Choix uses the secure online payment system Square to accept payments from all major debit and credit cards, HSA/FSA cards, and digital wallets. This includes Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, and Diners Club. Unfortunately, Choix cannot accept checks, cash, or money orders at this time.
No. Your doctor or other health professionals can’t tell whether or not you have had a medication abortion unless you tell them. If you need to seek health care in the days just after an abortion, they will not be able to know whether you are miscarrying or have had an abortion. The symptoms of a miscarraige and medication abortion are the same, and there are no tests that can show that you used abortion pills.
Doctors won’t be able to tell whether you had a miscarriage, a self-managed abortion, or a medication abortion prescribed by an abortion care provider. The only exception is if you inserted your misoprostol vaginally and the pills did not fully dissolve.
Choix encourages you to be as honest as possible with your health care providers. If you are experiencing abortion complications (self-induced, in-clinic, or medication), you should seek care from a trained health care provider, preferably one experienced with abortion care.
If you still have questions, please text us – we’re happy to talk and answer any questions you may have. To hear more directly from past patients about their experience getting care with Choix, visit our Abortion Care Stories.
Age requirements for accessing abortion care via telehealth vary by state. In California, Illinois, Maine and New Mexico, pregnant people fifteen and older may obtain medication abortions without parental consent or notification with Choix. Virginia requires parental notification and consent for pregnant people younger than 18. And Colorado requires abortion providers to notify parents or guardians of pregnant people younger than 18 who have scheduled an abortion appointment. (Please see below!)
If you are under 15 years of age, please feel free to call or text us with questions you may have at 858-203-0531.
Some states have parental notification laws for all minors (younger than 18) seeking abortion care. Colorado is currently the only state that Choix serves that requires parental notification. Parental notification laws require physicians or healthcare providers, like Choix, to notify a parent or guardian of a minor’s scheduled abortion procedure in writing within 48 hours in advance of the scheduled appointment time. Choix can do this for patients via email or standard mail.
Parental notification is different from parental consent. In states where notification is required, parents or guardians do not need to consent (give their approval) for the minor to have an abortion. The parental notification law does not apply to minors who are legally emancipated. If the patient is over 18 years of age at the time of service, i.e., the day of the appointment, a parent does not have to be notified. There is another exception to the parental notification requirement for minors who report to the health care provider that they are a victim of child abuse or neglect by the acts or omissions of the person who would be entitled to notice under the law. In this case, the health care provider will not notify the parent or guardian responsible for the alleged sexual abuse but will be required by Colorado state law to report the abuse to authorities (mandatory reporting requirements).
You can get a judicial bypass to avoid having your parents or guardian notified that you want to have an abortion. If you are a minor seeking an abortion, and you are sure that you cannot tell your parent or guardian about your pregnancyyou can petition for an order from a judge to allow you to have an abortion without notifying anyone. You will need an attorney to assist you in obtaining this judicial bypass. There is no fee for filing the petition for a judicial bypass with the court. The attorneys assisting minors through the Judicial Bypass process perform their services at no charge. Let us know if you need a judicial bypass. You can find out more about getting a judicial bypass in Colorado on If/When/How’s website and contact them via phone or secure online form.
There are also steps our patients can take to help protect their information as well. The three most impactful and accessible recommendations we have are to:
• Use a browser focused on privacy such as DuckDuckGo or OnionBrowser
• Limit or disable location tracking within your device settings
• Compartmentalize your browser usage. For example, keep your general web usage in one browser (say Safari) and anything you don’t want tracked or marketed to in another (say DuckDuckGo).
You may also want to learn more about best practices when it comes to your own personal digital security and privacy around abortion by visiting the websites of Digital Defense Fund and Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Visit these pages to view our Telehealth Consent, Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions.
Although our emails will never reference what services you use and offer encrypted text messaging options, we recommend seeking in person care if you do not feel safe receiving email and text alerts from the providers at Choix.
Advance Provision (Access to Abortion Pills for Future Use)
With advance provision, Choix provides people access to abortion pills (mifepristone and misoprostol) prior to them being needed — before people are pregnant. We believe in the power of planning ahead and being prepared for the unexpected. Advance provision is a way for people to get abortion pills ahead of time in case they need them in the future.
Choix is committed to providing all people safe, effective, confidential, and supportive abortion care – advance provision is one way we are meeting their reproductive health needs today and in the future.
Advance provision of abortion pills empowers people to determine, on their own, when they need a medication abortion. It creates options, choices, and time.
One of the most important benefits of advance provision is that people can access abortion earlier in their pregnancy. Medication abortion is most effective and safe in the window of time between 5 weeks 0 days and 11 weeks 0 days of pregnancy. The majority of people do not learn they are pregnant until after their first missed period, usually 4-5 weeks into a pregnancy. So advance provision buys people time to think about their options and make the decision that is best for their life circumstances.
Advance provision in combination with telehealth also helps people overcome financial and logistical barriers to abortion care. It especially helps people who:
- Are unable to access an abortion quickly.
- Know that they will be logistically unable to travel long distances, out of state, or available on multiple days to access either surgical or medication abortion due to childcare, work, school, or other schedule restrictions.
- Live in a part of the United States where abortion bans exist in surrounding states over large geographic areas and need to access care elsewhere.
- Are unable to easily access abortion care because they may be in unsafe domestic situations.
- Are seeking privacy and discretion from unsupportive family or community members.
Advance provision is an important option for those who think they might need an abortion someday, but are worried that they might not be able to get abortion pills in a timely manner or that they may not be able to have an abortion on their own terms. It is also an important option for people who simply want to be prepared for the unexpected. With advance provision, people can order abortion pills to keep them on hand for when they need them.
At Choix, the process for advance provision of abortion pills is almost identical to ordering pills if you were pregnant and wanted medication abortion pills at that time. It is as easy as submitting a 5-minute questionnaire via Choix’s secure and private website. One of our experienced abortion providers will review your medical history and check in with you via text to confirm your health information. They will also review consent forms with you at this time.
If no additional steps are required, Choix will work with our partner pharmacy to have the abortion pills mailed to you within 3-5 business days.
The cost of abortion care services with Choix is $289 including everything you need – the abortion medications, clinical care, and shipping.
For people using Choix’s Advance Provision service, should you become pregnant in the future and decide you would like to use the pills, we encourage patients to come back to Choix for care. There is no additional charge beyond the initial fee for Advance Provision.
Once you know you are pregnant and decide you want to use the abortion pills, you should contact Choix. You will get medical support and guidance throughout your abortion. Simply return to Choix’s patient portal to access the medication abortion questionaire. Once you contact Choix to let us know that you are pregnant, a Choix clinician will review your medical history for any changes to make sure it is still safe for you to take the medications. We will review your clinical information such as your last menstrual period, any bleeding or other irregular symptoms (as could happen if your pregnancy is ectopic or not in your uterus), and any indications that you may need an ultrasound.
No. Ongoing confidential, supportive, expert abortion care from Choix providers is included in the original price you paid for your Advance Provision prescription. Everyone who uses the Advance Provision service receives access to Choix’s patient portal and will be asked to contact Choix when they are ready to use their abortion pills.
After receiving your medications in the mail, store your medications at room temperature and in their original, unopened packaging.
Mifepristone has a shelf-life of about 5 years while misoprostol tablets have a shelf-life of around 2 years. However, please check your medicine’s expiration date before taking them. Choix does not recommend taking expired mifepristone or misoprostol because they may not work as well.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permanently approved mailing the two medications used most commonly for medication abortion (mifepristone and misoprostol) to all 50 states in December 2021. However, individual state laws can still make mailing medication abortion pills illegal.
Nineteen states currently ban telehealth for abortion by requiring a physician (MD, doctor) to dispense abortion pills in person. At this time, Choix is able to offer advance provision of medication abortion pills for people 15 years of age or older living in California, Ilinois, Maine, and New Mexico, and 18 years or older in Colorado without parental consent. If you have personal concerns about legality or have specific legal questions, please visit or call If/When/How’s Repro Legal Helpline.
You may have heard the term self-managed abortion (SMA) and be wondering if it is the same thing as the advance provision of abortion pills. A self-managed abortion is one that occurs outside of the formal healthcare setting. A range of methods may be used, but self-managed medical abortion (SMMA) using the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved protocol of mifepristone followed by misoprostol is the safest and most effective, when both medications are taken prior to 11 weeks of pregnancy.
Unlike SMA, with Choix you get the same support and guidance from our expert abortion care providers whether you access the medications before you are pregnant with advance provision of the medication or once you are already pregnant. We are here to support you and answer your questions at every step of the way – when you get the abortion pills, when you take the abortion pills, and after you take the abortion pills.
No. The manufacturers of mifepristone and misoprostol have thus far been able to keep up with the increased demand in requests for medications. The majority of abortions in the U.S. were medication abortions, even before the reversal of Roe vs. Wade. Drug companies and pharmacies, even through the COVID-19 pandemic, have been able to adjust to increasing demand since medication abortion pills became available through telehealth in 2020. There is not currently a shortage in the availability of medication abortion pills. Choix works directly with its accredited, certified pharmacy partner to ensure that our clients have access to medication abortion now, and if they need it in the future.
Aiken, AR, Broussard K, Johnson, DM and Padron, E. Motivations and Experiences of People Seeking Medication Abortion Online in the United States. Perspect Sex Repro H, 2018, 50: 157-163.
Ehrenreich K, Biggs MA, Grossman D. Making the case for advance provision of mifepristone and misoprostol for abortion in the United States. BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health Published Online First: 03 December 2021. doi: 10.1136/bmjsrh-2021-201321.
Guttmacher Institute. Medication Abortion. August 1, 2022. Accessed August 2022.
Jones RK et al., Medication abortion now accounts for more than half of all US abortions. Guttmacher Institute. Updated February 2022. Accessed August 2022.
Kapp N et al., A research agenda for moving early medical pregnancy termination over the counter, BJOG,2017,124(11):1646–1652,.
Kerestes C, Delafield R, Elia J, Chong E, Kaneshiro B, Soon R. “It was close enough, but it wasn’t close enough”: A qualitative exploration of the impact of direct-to-patient telemedicine abortion on access to abortion care. Contraception. 2021;104(1):67-72. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2021.04.028.
Macnaughton H, Nothnagle M, Early J. Mifepristone and Misoprostol for Early Pregnancy Loss and Medication Abortion. Am Fam Physician. 2021;103(8):473-480.
Madera M et al., Experiences seeking, sourcing, and using abortion pills at home in the United States through an online telemedicine service. SSM – Qualitative Research in Health. 2022; (2): 100075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2022.100075.
Raymond E et al., TelAbortion: evaluation of a direct to patient telemedicine abortion service in the United States, Contraception, 2019, 100(3):173–177,.
Upadhyay UD, Raymond EG, Koenig LR, Coplon L, Gold M, Kaneshiro B, Boraas CM, Winikoff B. Outcomes and Safety of History-Based Screening for Medication Abortion: A Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study. JAMA Intern Med. 2022 May 1;182(5):482-491. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.0217. PMID: 35311911; PMCID: PMC8938895.
World Health Organization. WHO Recommendations on self-care interventions, self-management of medical abortion. 2022. Accessed August 10, 2022.
Telehealth
Visit these pages to view our Telehealth Consent, Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions.
Although our emails will never reference what services you use and offer encrypted text messaging options, we recommend seeking in person care if you do not feel safe receiving email and text alerts from the providers at Choix.
• Incomplete abortion (your body does not finish the abortion process)
• Heavy bleeding that will not stop
• Infection
• Fever
• Diarrhea and digestive (belly) pain
• Allergic reaction to the medications
Serious complications requiring care at a hospital for infection treatment or a transfusion happen very rarely (only 0.4% of all medication abortions). This means that if one thousand women had medication abortions, only four would experience serious complications.
Complications happen more often if you do not take all of the abortion pills or take them exactly as prescribed by your Choix provider. If you have any questions about how to take your medications or if you are experiencing side effects you have questions about, Choix providers are standing by to support you and answer your questions Monday thru Friday from 8 am PT to 4:30 pm PT.
Choix currently only offers services to patients assigned the female sex at birth and we can only prescribe medications directly to the patient who will be using our services..
By having care with Choix, you can privately and securely obtain a refill, start birth control, or initiate care for an infection on your own time without having to visit a clinic or schedule a phone call during a clinic’s office hours. Our questionnaires gather information that help us diagnose, treat, and prescribe according to the same strict clinical guidelines that are used in a traditional healthcare setting. Our medical providers and team are available via phone, text, and email for any questions you may have. And you can receive your medication at your doorstep without having to take a trip to the pharmacy.
We also recognize that sometimes going for in person care isn’t an option for everyone. Whether because of geographic location, cost, or due to stigma that, unfortunately, may come with sexual and reproductive healthcare in certain settings.
When required, we utilize laboratory services in place of a traditional clinic setting for tests. You do not need to disclose the reason for your visit – labs perform a wide variety of tests for lots of people and conditions.
General & Administrative
Choix is a telehealth clinic which operates separately from your pharmacy. Just like with a visit to your in-person medical provider. Once our medical team sends a prescription to your pharmacy of choice, it is up to you to follow up with your pharmacy regarding pick up and payment of the prescription. If, however, you feel the cost of the prescription we sent is too much or not covered by your insurance, we are happy to try to help find the most economical method that meets your needs! Most pharmacies do not charge for medications that you do not pick up or confirm delivery for.
If you login to your account, you can edit your contact information, photo, and ID. For any additional updates or to delete your account, please email support@choixhealth.com.
As per our Refund Policy found in the Terms and Conditions, refunds for an initial consultation for services can only be offered if a request for cancellation occurs before the medical provider reviews your questionnaire and provides a consultation.
Medication Abortion Refund Policy: Refunds cannot be processed for a medication abortion once a prescription has been sent to the pharmacy by the medical team. Please review our shipping and medication abortion policies. If you have any questions or need to request a refund, send an email to support@choixhealth.com.
While we do not currently accept medical insurance for the cost of your visit, you can use your medical insurance towards the cost of your prescription. The cost of most birth control, emergency contraception, and antibiotics used to treat UTIs are free or low cost with most insurance plans, including Medi-Cal/Medicaid/FPACT. However, we cannot guarantee that state or federally funded insurance programs will cover all desired methods or medications. We aim to keep our consultation prices low so that they are similar to the cost of your copay, and more affordable than the cost of an in-person visit.
