--- title: "Facebook Is Automatically Deleting Posts Offering to Mail Abortion Pills" description: "Vice has confirmed that Facebook is removing status updates that discuss mailed abortion pills, and has even issued temporary bans to some users." date: "2022-06-29" modified: "2022-06-29" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/facebook-is-deleting-posts-mail-abortion-pills" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Meta" tags: - "abortion" - "Meta" - "supreme court" - "the digest" --- # Facebook Is Automatically Deleting Posts Offering to Mail Abortion Pills ![Vice has confirmed that Facebook is removing status updates that discuss mailed abortion pills, and has even issued temporary bans to some users.]() *\Image: Futurism\* Meta-owned Facebook is removing status updates that discuss mailing abortion pills, and has even issued temporary bans to people who tried to post such content, [*Vice* has confirmed](). "I will mail abortion pills to any one of you. Just message me," read a status update by one user, who published the post on the day that Roe vs. Wade — the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in America — [was overturned](). The source told *Vice* that the status was removed within one minute of posting, and they later realized that they'd been banned as a result. Women, girls, and birthing people across the country are now facing forced birth laws in nearly half of US states, and many "[trigger laws]()" have already gone into effect. While some of these states already have laws that ban or limit the mailing of abortion pills, most don't (at least not yet). And for those who now lack action to abortion services as a result of Roe's fall, access to these legal, FDA regulated pills might literally be a lifesaver. So it's fair to ask: why would Meta be censoring related posts? A Meta spokesperson [published a tweet]() in response to the outcry, in which he detailed that any published content attempting to "buy, sell, trade, gift, request or donate pharmaceuticals is not allowed." That's reasonable, but when the *Vice* reporters swapped just one very important word and posted the phrase "painkiller pills can be mailed," Facebook did nothing to moderate the post. The same went [for an *Associated Press* journalist]() who posted an update about sending marijuana by mail — infuriating, considering that sending weed via USPS actually violates federal law, as opposed to legal abortion pills. Instagram, also owned by Meta, has reportedly been targeting [abortion pill-related content]() as well. And in a moment when abortion laws are more confusing — and terrifying — than ever before in modern America, limiting the dissemination of necessary information is not just frustrating or bizarre. It's a serious public health risk. **More on Roe vs. Wade:** [*Supreme Court Strikes down Right to Abortion, in Horrifying Public Health Disaster*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()