Vigilante volunteers already stake out abortion clinics in states including Mississippi, Florida and North Carolina, filming people’s arrival on cameras and recording details about them and their cars. While they deny the data is used to harass or contact people seeking abortions, experts are concerned that footage filmed of clients arriving and leaving clinics could be exploited to target and harm them, particularly if law enforcement agencies or private groups were to use facial recognition to identify them.
Another option is to order so-called abortion pills to discreetly end a pregnancy at home. The pills, which are safe and widely prescribed by doctors, are significantly less expensive than surgical procedures, and already account for the majority of abortions in the US.
Online activists scrambled to help Texas residents access the pills after the state passed the SB8 law, which made the procedure illegal when a heartbeat is detected, last September. As this usually occurs around six weeks into pregnancy, the bill effectively criminalizes abortion because unpredictable cycles mean many people are unlikely to know they’re pregnant at that stage.
Experts told MIT Technology Review it would be wise to research access to the pills depending on the state they live in, suggesting that some people may want to order the pills, which have a shelf life of at least three years, in advance.