Evidence of global demand for medication abortion information: An analysis of www.medicationabortion.com

Introduction The worldwide expansion of the Internet offers an important modality of disseminating medically accurate information about medication abortion. We chronicle the story of www.medicationabortion.com, an English-, Spanish-, Arabic- and French-language website dedicated to three early abortion regimens. Methods We evaluated the website use patterns from 2005 through 2009. We also conducted a content and thematic analysis of 1910 emails submitted during this period. Results The website experienced steady growth in use. In 2009, it received 35,000 visits each month from more than 20,000 unique visitors and was accessed by users in 208 countries and territories. More than half of all users accessed the website from a country in which abortion is legally restricted. Users from more than 40 countries sent emails with individual questions. Women often wrote in extraordinary detail about the circumstances of their pregnancies and attempts to obtain an abortion. These emails also reflect considerable demand for information about the use of misoprostol for self-induction. Conclusion The use patterns of www.medicationabortion.com indicate that there is significant demand for online information about abortion, and the findings suggest future priorities for research, collaboration and educational outreach.