Facebook and Instagram have begun to quickly remove posts offering abortion pills to women who may not be able to access them following a Supreme Court decision that removed constitutional protections for the procedure.
These social media posts were apparently aimed at helping women living in states where pre-existing laws banning abortion came into force suddenly on Friday. It was then that the high court overturned Roe v. Wade, his 1973 decision declaring access to abortion a constitutional right.
Memes and status updates explaining how women could legally obtain abortion pills by mail exploded on social platforms. Some even offered to mail the prescriptions to women living in states that now ban the procedure.
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Almost immediately, Facebook and Instagram began removing some of these posts, just as millions in the United States were seeking clarity about access to abortion. General mentions of abortion pills, as well as posts mentioning specific versions like mifepristone and misoprostol, rose sharply Friday morning on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and television broadcasts, according to an analysis by the intelligence firm. media license Zignal Labs.
On Sunday, Zignal had counted more than 250,000 such mentions.
Eight states are holding primary and second-round elections today, marking the first election test since Roe v. Wade was canceled.
04:07
The AP obtained a screenshot on Friday of an Instagram post from a woman who offered to buy or send abortion pills by mail, minutes after the court decided to overturn the constitutional right to abortion .
“Send me an email if you want to order abortion pills, but you want them to be sent to my address instead of yours,” the post said on Instagram.
Instagram withdrew it in a few moments. Vice Media first reported Monday that Meta, the father of Facebook and Instagram, was removing posts about abortion pills.
On Monday, an AP reporter tested how the company would respond to a similar post on Facebook, and wrote, “If you send me your address, I’ll mail you abortion pills.”
The post was deleted in a minute.
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The Facebook account was immediately put in a state of “warning” for the post, which Facebook said violated its standards on “weapons, animals and other regulated property.”
However, when the AP journalist made the exact same post but changed the words “abortion pills” to “a gun,” the post remained intact. A post with the exact same offer to send “grass” was also left and was not considered an infringement.
Marijuana is illegal under federal law and it is illegal to mail it.
Abortion pills, however, can be legally obtained by email after an online consultation of prescribers who have undergone certification and training.
In an email, a Meta spokesman noted the company’s policies prohibiting the sale of certain items, such as weapons, alcohol, drugs and pharmaceuticals. The company did not explain the apparent discrepancies in the application of this policy.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone confirmed in a tweet On Monday the company will not allow individuals to give away or sell pharmaceuticals on its platform, but will allow content to share information on how to access the pills. Stone acknowledged some issues in enforcing this policy on its platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram.
Content that attempts to buy, sell, trade, give away, solicit, or donate pharmaceuticals is not permitted. Content that discusses the accessibility and accessibility of prescription drugs is allowed. We have discovered some cases of incorrect application and are correcting them.
– Andy Stone (@andymstone) June 27, 2022
“We have discovered some cases of misapplication and we are correcting them,” Stone said in the tweet.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that states should not ban mifepristone, the drug used to induce abortion.
“States may not ban mifepristone for disagreeing with the FDA’s expert judgment on its safety and effectiveness,” Garland said in a statement Friday.
But some Republicans have already tried to prevent their residents from getting abortion pills by mail, with some states like West Virginia and Tennessee banning providers from prescribing the drug through telemedicine consultation.
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