LD 825 & LD 851, medication abortion, and so-called abortion “reversal”

As the legislative session progresses, we now have drafted bill language for four of the anti-abortion bills, including so-called abortion reversal (LD 825 & LD 851). Since this is the first time the legislature will address this issue, I wanted to provide some background on medication abortion, so-called abortion reversal, and how bills like these contribute to the misinformation, confusion, and stigma about abortion, abortion patients, and abortion providers. 

 

Medication Abortion

• Medication abortion uses a combination of two medicines — mifepristone and misoprostol — that patients usually take 24 hours apart. 

• Medication abortion is both highly effective and safe. Studies suggest that 95% to 99% of people who take both drugs in the prescribed regimen will safely end their pregnancy and fewer than .4% of medication abortion patients have major complications -- that’s lower than for wisdom teeth extraction (8.4%).

• The FDA approves the use of medication abortion early in pregnancy.

• In 2017, medication abortion accounted for 39% of all abortions in the United States and 60% of all abortions taking place up to 10 weeks’ gestation. This is when more than 80% of abortions occur (Guttmacher 2019). 

 

So-called abortion “reversal”

• Opponents of safe, legal abortion argue that if patients do not take the second medicine prescribed for a medication abortion and take a large dose of the hormone progesterone, the abortion can be “reversed.”

• There isn’t a shred of evidence -- no clinical trials, no objective or credible data -- to support so-called medication abortion “reversal.”  

  • The truth is, medication abortion “reversal” endangers people’s health. A study launched in early 2019 to test the protocol had to be halted early due to patient safety concerns. (25% of participants had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment for severe bleeding) 

  • The researchers concluded that patients in early pregnancy who use only mifepristone without misoprostol may be at risk of significant hemorrhage.

• Medical experts oppose so-called abortion “reversal”

  • The American Medical Association says it ”contradicts reality and science.”

  • The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says “claims of medication abortion reversal are not supported by the body of scientific evidence, and this approach is not recommended in ACOG’s clinical guidance on medication abortion.”

 

Abortion misinformation

• People feel a range of emotions when making the decision to end a pregnancy but regretting their decision to have an abortion is rare. They haven’t made the decision lightly and they don’t change their minds. 

  • One week after having an abortion, women in a 2008­–2010 study “felt more relief and happiness about the abortion than about the pregnancy”

    • 95% of women who had obtained an abortion felt it was the right decision while those denied an abortion felt more regret and anger

  • Even after 5 years, 99% of patients report that having an abortion was the right decision

• Bills like these perpetuate the myth that people who need an abortion are indecisive or unaware of what they are doing. Written by politicians, not medical professionals, these bills are not about science or medicine, they are just a political tactic to shame and confuse patients and discredit providers.

 

All patients need medically accurate information to make decisions that are right for them. Forcing providers to give patients misleading or inaccurate information undermines informed consent and interferes with the trusting relationship between a provider and patient.

In fact, last month a Federal District Court blocked a similar law in Tennessee noting that the law likely violates the First Amendment by compelling speech that is “untruthful and/or misleading.”

Patients should be treated with dignity and respect and given medically accurate information -- not stigmatizing, unproven claims based on misinformation.

Neither of the bills in Maine have yet been scheduled for a public hearing.

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