A federal court ruling is clearing the way for people on Guam to gain access to medication abortion through telemedicine.

According to an ACLU release, the preliminary injunction was issued on Friday through the U.S. District Court of Guam. Patients can now receive government-mandated information before an abortion from their physician via telemedicine, without having to make a separate, medically unnecessary in-person visit.

This decision follows a partial settlement secured by the plaintiffs in early March which ensures that a 1978 law that requires abortions to be “performed” in a clinic or hospital cannot be used to restrict access to medication abortion. A lawsuit was filed by two physicians represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and Guam-based attorney Vanessa L. Williams.

"This ruling puts science over politics, blocking yet another medically unnecessary obstacle that was making it more difficult for people in Guam to access abortion care,” said Rachel Reeves, staff attorney at the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “At such a critical moment for abortion access in this country, the court’s decision is an important step toward ensuring that all of us — no matter where we live — can exercise that right.”

More about this case can be found here: https://www.aclu.org/cases/raidoo-et-al-v-camacho-et-al

The injunction can be found here: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/raidoo-et-al-v-camacho-et-al-person-counseling-injunction