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Instagram and Facebook remove posts offering abortion pills

Instagram and Facebook remove posts offering abortion pills
REACTION FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE. THE EYEOPENER’S JENNIFER EAGAN IS LIVE AT THE STATE HOUSE WITH WHAT TO WATCH IN THE DAY AHEAD. JENNIFER: GOVERNOR BAKER SPEAK ABOUT THE ISSUE FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS AFTERNOON AFTER HIS MEETING HERE ON BEACON HILL. ABORTIONS REMAIN LEGAL HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS. ON FRIDAY GOVERNOR BAKER SIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER THAT BANS STATE AGENCIES FROM COOPERATING WITH ABORTION INVESTIGATIONS. THAT ORDER ALSO BANS EXTRADITION TO OTHER STATES ON ABORTION CHARGES AND PROTECTS MASSACHUSETTS ABORTION PROVIDERS FROM OUT OF STATE PUNISHMENT SUCH AS LICENSE SUSPENSIONS. THIS MORNING, EIGHT STATES HAVE NEAR TOTAL BANS IN FORCE. 11 STATES HAVE NO CLINICS PERFORMING ABORTIONS. MASSACHUSETTS SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN REITERATING CALLS ON ABC’S "THIS WEEK" TO ADD MORE JUSTICES TO THE SUPREME COURT TO GET SOME CONFIDENCE BACK IN THE INSTITUTION AFTER SHE CLAIMS ITS RULINGS WENT TOO FAR. SEN. WARREN: THIS COURT HAS LOST LEGITIMACY. THEY HAVE BURNED WHATEVER LEGITIMACY THEY MAY STILL HAVE HAD AFTER THEIR GUN DECISION, AFTER THEIR VOTING DECISION, AFTER THEIR UNION DECISION. THEY JUST TOOK THE LAST OF IT AND SET A TORCH TO IT WITH THE ROE V. WADE OPINION. SEN. GRAHAM: THE RADICAL LEFT ARE CONSTITUTIONAL ANARCHISTS. THEY ARE LITERALLY TRYING TO CHANGE THIS COUNTRY FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. THEY WANT TO PACK THE COURT BECAUSE THEY DON’T LIKE THIS DECISION. JENNIFER: BACK HERE ON BEACON HILL, LAWMAKERS MAY ALSO ADD TWO -- ADD $2 MILLION INTO THE STATE BUDGET TO BOOST SECURITY AT LOCAL ABORTION CLINICS. SOME ADVOCATES ARE ALSO CALLING FOR FUNDING TO HELP WOMEN
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Instagram and Facebook remove posts offering abortion pills
Facebook and Instagram have begun promptly removing posts that offer abortion pills to women who may not be able to access them following a Supreme Court decision that stripped away constitutional protections for the procedure.Related video above: More states expected to ban abortion in weeks aheadSuch social media posts ostensibly aimed to help women living in states where preexisting laws banning abortion suddenly snapped into effect on Friday. That's when the high court overruled Roe v. Wade, its 1973 decision that declared access to abortion a constitutional right.Memes and status updates explaining how women could legally obtain abortion pills in the mail exploded across social platforms. Some even offered to mail the prescriptions to women living in states that now ban the procedure.Almost immediately, Facebook and Instagram began removing some of these posts, just as millions across the U.S. were searching for clarity around abortion access. General mentions of abortion pills, as well as posts mentioning specific versions such as mifepristone and misoprostol, suddenly spiked Friday morning across Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and TV broadcasts, according to an analysis by the media intelligence firm Zignal Labs.By Sunday, Zignal had counted more than 250,000 such mentions.The AP obtained a screenshot on Friday of one Instagram post from a woman who offered to purchase or forward abortion pills through the mail, minutes after the court ruled to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion."DM me if you want to order abortion pills, but want them sent to my address instead of yours," the post on Instagram read.Instagram took it down within moments. Vice Media first reported on Monday that Meta, the parent of both Facebook and Instagram, was taking down posts about abortion pills.On Monday, an AP reporter tested how the company would respond to a similar post on Facebook, writing: "If you send me your address, I will mail you abortion pills."The post was removed within one minute.The Facebook account was immediately put on a "warning" status for the post, which Facebook said violated its standards on "guns, animals and other regulated goods."Yet, when the AP reporter made the same exact post but swapped out the words "abortion pills" for "a gun," the post remained untouched. A post with the same exact offer to mail "weed" was also left up and not considered a violation.Marijuana is illegal under federal law and it is illegal to send it through the mail.Abortion pills, however, can legally be obtained through the mail after an online consultation from prescribers who have undergone certification and training.In an email, a Meta spokesperson pointed to company policies that prohibit the sale of certain items, including guns, alcohol, drugs and pharmaceuticals. The company did not explain the apparent discrepancies in its enforcement of that policy.Meta spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed in a tweet Monday that the company will not allow individuals to gift or sell pharmaceuticals on its platform, but will allow content that shares information on how to access pills. Stone acknowledged some problems with enforcing that policy across its platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram."We've discovered some instances of incorrect enforcement and are correcting these," Stone said in the tweet.Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that states should not ban mifepristone, the medication used to induce an abortion."States may not ban mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA's expert judgment about its safety and efficacy," Garland said in a Friday statement.But some Republicans have already tried to stop their residents from obtaining abortion pills through the mail, with some states like West Virginia and Tennessee prohibiting providers from prescribing the medication through telemedicine consultation.

Facebook and Instagram have begun promptly removing posts that offer abortion pills to women who may not be able to access them following a Supreme Court decision that stripped away constitutional protections for the procedure.

Related video above: More states expected to ban abortion in weeks ahead

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Such social media posts ostensibly aimed to help women living in states where preexisting laws banning abortion suddenly snapped into effect on Friday. That's when the high court overruled Roe v. Wade, its 1973 decision that declared access to abortion a constitutional right.

Memes and status updates explaining how women could legally obtain abortion pills in the mail exploded across social platforms. Some even offered to mail the prescriptions to women living in states that now ban the procedure.

Almost immediately, Facebook and Instagram began removing some of these posts, just as millions across the U.S. were searching for clarity around abortion access. General mentions of abortion pills, as well as posts mentioning specific versions such as mifepristone and misoprostol, suddenly spiked Friday morning across Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and TV broadcasts, according to an analysis by the media intelligence firm Zignal Labs.

By Sunday, Zignal had counted more than 250,000 such mentions.

The AP obtained a screenshot on Friday of one Instagram post from a woman who offered to purchase or forward abortion pills through the mail, minutes after the court ruled to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion.

"DM me if you want to order abortion pills, but want them sent to my address instead of yours," the post on Instagram read.

Instagram took it down within moments. Vice Media first reported on Monday that Meta, the parent of both Facebook and Instagram, was taking down posts about abortion pills.

On Monday, an AP reporter tested how the company would respond to a similar post on Facebook, writing: "If you send me your address, I will mail you abortion pills."

The post was removed within one minute.

The Facebook account was immediately put on a "warning" status for the post, which Facebook said violated its standards on "guns, animals and other regulated goods."

Yet, when the AP reporter made the same exact post but swapped out the words "abortion pills" for "a gun," the post remained untouched. A post with the same exact offer to mail "weed" was also left up and not considered a violation.

Marijuana is illegal under federal law and it is illegal to send it through the mail.

Abortion pills, however, can legally be obtained through the mail after an online consultation from prescribers who have undergone certification and training.

In an email, a Meta spokesperson pointed to company policies that prohibit the sale of certain items, including guns, alcohol, drugs and pharmaceuticals. The company did not explain the apparent discrepancies in its enforcement of that policy.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed in a tweet Monday that the company will not allow individuals to gift or sell pharmaceuticals on its platform, but will allow content that shares information on how to access pills. Stone acknowledged some problems with enforcing that policy across its platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram.

"We've discovered some instances of incorrect enforcement and are correcting these," Stone said in the tweet.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday that states should not ban mifepristone, the medication used to induce an abortion.

"States may not ban mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA's expert judgment about its safety and efficacy," Garland said in a Friday statement.

But some Republicans have already tried to stop their residents from obtaining abortion pills through the mail, with some states like West Virginia and Tennessee prohibiting providers from prescribing the medication through telemedicine consultation.