Hey Jane, a virtual reproductive and sexual health care provider, launched its services in Michigan this month — marking its 24th state. Hey Jane will expand access to medication abortion and other services in a state facing a reproductive health care shortage, where approximately 85% of clinics have no abortion clinics; one third of counties have no obstetricians or gynecologists; and at least four in-person abortion clinics have closed this year alone.
The company is now the only fully virtual abortion provider operating in Michigan that accepts insurance. Hey Jane offers telehealth services for a wide range of needs, including medication abortion, birth control prescriptions, emergency contraception and treatment for infections. Through its website, patients can consult with licensed providers and receive medications discreetly mailed to their homes.
Michigan recently expanded abortion protections when voters passed Proposal 3 in 2022, enshrining reproductive rights in the state constitution. Still, national conversations about abortion remain volatile — with President Donald Trump passing his “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” targeting federal Medicaid funding to limit abortion coverage. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Dr. Alyssa Wagner, Hey Jane’s medical director and University of Michigan alum, said the service aims to reach as many patients as possible through its virtual format.
“We need in-person abortion clinics,” Wagner said. “That is non-negotiable. (But) we know it’s not always practical for somebody to get to an in-person clinic, so we love being able to support people who, for logistical reasons, this is a good option for them as well.”
Co-founder and CEO Kiki Freedman wrote in an email to The Daily that Hey Jane’s expansion to Michigan is meant to address both immediate gaps and long-term structural barriers to reproductive healthcare.
“With clinic closures and provider shortages, many people are left navigating long wait times, travel burdens and high costs just to get care,” Freedman wrote. “Hey Jane provides another option for patients who cannot or do not want to travel, need more flexibility or prefer care at home. This expansion helps deliver on the promise Michigan voters made and meets the real needs of patients across the state and region.”
The process begins with online intake, which is available 24/7. Patients answer questions about their health and pregnancy to ensure that abortion via telemedicine is safe. The clinical team then offers phone, video or chat consultations. Medications are mailed directly, and follow-up care ensures patients complete treatment safely.
Freedman wrote that her drive to build Hey Jane stemmed from her firsthand experience of the decline in reproductive health care access.
“When I was attending college in Missouri before Roe v. Wade was overturned, I saw what it meant for a state to be down to a single abortion clinic, and how quickly access to essential care could disappear,” Freedman wrote. “It felt dystopian that in the U.S., millions of people could be left without safe, legal abortion. That experience inspired me to build Hey Jane — a way to make reproductive health care accessible, discreet, and compassionate through telemedicine.”
In an interview with The Daily, LSA senior Taliya Maddox, vice president of the University’s Black Maternal Equity Collective, said the expansion could be especially meaningful for patients who face stigma or have had prior negative experiences with health care.
“It’s not uncommon for Black patients, especially in reproductive health, to have had poor experiences with the health care system, which then can become a deterrent to pursuing care in the future,” Maddox said. “Having more options like Hey Jane allows those with prior trauma more access, and we would love to see expansion in these services for other treatment options.”
Wagner said she measures the impact of Hey Jane by imagining the realities of patients across the United States.
“I made our team do an exercise where I picked a random small town that is rural, that’s in a state that we’re serving and I challenged the team to find the nearest hospital, lab, pizza shop and abortion friendly provider,” Wagner said. “These are towns where you definitely can’t get a hot pizza and it could take you hours to get to an obviously abortion friendly provider, but we can bring one of the safest treatments out there and one of the most stigmatized to your doorstep.”
Senior News Editor Emma Spring can be reached at sprinemm@umich.edu.
