An Abortion Pill Supply Chain—by Mail Order

Indian generic drug makers are drop-shipping the medicines to US women facing local curbs

- By Bruce Einhorn and Dhwani Pandya

Angry over the US Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in June, Deborah Willoughby wanted to do more than attend a rally or make a donation. So she sat down at her computer and placed an order for a pack of abortion pills from India sold under the brand name Unwanted.

India has many online pharmacies offering to sell mifepristone and misoprostol, drugs commonly used to terminate pregnancies-no questions asked and no prescription required. Plan C, an American group that provides information on how to obtain at-home abortion medication, needed volunteers to test online suppliers' delivery claims. Willoughby signed up and placed an order via Secureabortionpills.com, which describes itself as an online international pharmacy selling generic drugs.

She received instructions to describe the shipment as "family maintenance" or "medical treatment for family" when placing her order. The total price was $310, including a shipping charge of $151. Willoughby, who didn't want her home state in the US disclosed, could have chosen less expensive options, but delivery would have taken longer. "You're not on that website if you feel you have several weeks to wait," she says.

Two days later she received a nondescript package at her local post office. "You wouldn't have known what it was," she says. Inside was Unwanted, made by Mankind Pharma Ltd. in New Delhi. Neither Mankind Pharma nor Secureabortionpills.com responded to Bloomberg News requests for comment.