The Truth About Abortion Pill Reversal
Abortion might be the most controversial topic of the last 50 years, and the controversy shows no signs of fading anytime soon. It seems that debates about the abortion pill and abortion pill reversal (APR)have become central to the debate. This may be due to the fact that an increasing number of women are seeking abortions through medication rather than surgery. Also, regardless of whether it is effective or not, an increasing number of women are looking for information on abortion pill reversal. At LCWH we seek to deliver facts that empower women with information. As much as possible, we seek to be objective as journalists by providing information from scientific studies. Our goal is to equip you with information, not to take a political position.
Just the Facts
We scoured as many medical journals as possible to find out the truth about Abortion Pill Reversal. Is it dangerous or does it work?
Here is what we learned about Abortion Pill Reversal:
(Note: These results are based on questions we had that we were able to get answered through medical journals.)
Is Abortion Pill Reversal Dangerous?
When we searched the National Institute of Health to find information about the dangers of Abortion Pill Reversal, we only found studies that reflected the dangers of the Abortion Pill itself (NOT Abortion Pill Reversal). According to a longitudinal study over nearly two decades, the Abortion pill reflected significant dangers: “Significant morbidity and mortality have occurred following the use of mifepristone as an abortifacient.” [1] There have not been many studies related to the safety of abortion pill reversal. The one study that we could find was cut short, citing the safety of the participants. However, the symptoms of the participants were symptoms already associated with the abortion pill. There were no unique symptoms associated with Abortion Pill Reversal treatment. [2]
Is Abortion Pill Reversal Effective?
According to a study done by Mary L. Davenport and George Delgado, APR is sometimes effective in reversing the effects of the abortion pill. According to their case report, “Four of 6 women who took mifepristone were able to carry their pregnancies to term after receiving intramuscular progesterone 200 mg.” [3] Put simply, Abortion Pill Reveal works at least some of the time. Without getting into the tedious details of this and other studies, the timing for APR seems to be a critical factor in its efficacy. In other words, if you change your mind after taking the abortion pill, the sooner you take the abortion pill reversal, the more likely you are to remain pregnant.
There is a notable question to consider. Chemical abortions require treatments. The first is to take mifepristone to block the progesterone. Then, 24 hours later, the patient has to take misoprostol to cause the uterus to contract and complete the abortion. This is where it gets complicated. What happens if you only take mifepristone? A 2019 NPR article stated that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology (ACOG) claimed, "as many as half of women who take only mifepristone continue their pregnancies." Notably, this would be less than the percentage of those who took progesterone along with not taking misoprostol (see Davenport and Delgado’s study). However (and this is where it gets a little strange), NPR’s link to the ACOG website leads to a missing page. A search for the quote on the ACOG’s site yielded no results. A Google search led only to websites citing the non-existent ACOG study.
So, we don’t know for certain if not taking misoprostol will cause a person to remain pregnant in 50% of cases, but we do know that the chances of remaining pregnant after taking mifepristone increase when the person takes progesterone. According to Issues in Law & Medicine, Volume 33, Number 1, 2018, women who took progesterone remained pregnant in 64% of cases.[4]
How Does Abortion Pill Reversal Work?
According to the aforementioned study by Davenport and Delgado, “Progesterone competes with mifepristone for the progesterone receptor and may reverse the effects of mifepristone.”[3] We are not medical professionals, so here is our understanding of the study and how APR works. Progesterone is a natural hormone essential to pregnancy. Mifepristone is a chemical commonly used in the Abortion Pill to block the natural hormone, progesterone. Abortion Pill Reversal treatment simply adds more progesterone to mitigate the effects of mifepristone.
Is abortion Pill Reversal Prescribed by Medical Doctors?
According to the Mayo Clinic, other than what your body produces naturally, you can’t obtain progesterone without a prescription from a medical doctor. Many pregnancy centers offer Abortion Pill Reversal, but as many of them as we could find partner with a medical doctor who gives the prescription. Lorain County’s free clinic, Cornerstone Women’s Health Center has a doctor to write APR prescriptions.
Woman’s Choice
We wanted to know if Abortion Pill Reversal led to increasing a woman’s choice or not. Here’s what we concluded….
Does Abortion Pill Reversal Increase or Decrease a Woman’s Choice?
According to a study by Prussia, Whitehouse, and Bow, pro-choice advocates should support Abortion Pill Reversal as a means to increase a woman’s choice, stating that its efficacy may be in question, but not its safety: “We conclude that those espousing the pro-choice standpoint should be, in principle, committed to supporting the availability of APR, while recognizing that data on its efficacy may be difficult to obtain.” [5]
Again, we aren’t medical professionals or legal pundits, but our best research from reputable medical journals indicates that APR is safe, involves hormones that are naturally occurring, and is effective about 64% of the time. In our opinion, if you believe in a woman’s right to choose, it makes sense to support Abortion Pill Reversal Access.
Citations:
Aultman K, Cirucci CA, Harrison DJ, Beran BD, Lockwood MD, Seiler S. Deaths and Severe Adverse Events after the use of Mifepristone as an Abortifacient from September 2000 to February 2019. Issues Law Med. 2021 Spring;36(1):3-26. PMID: 33939340.
Creinin, Mitchell D. MD; Hou, Melody Y. MD, MPH; Dalton, Laura DO, MBA; Steward, Rachel MD, MSc; Chen, Melissa J. MD, MPH. Mifepristone Antagonization With Progesterone to Prevent Medical Abortion: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Obstetrics & Gynecology 135(1):p 158-165, January 2020. | DOI: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000003620
Delgado G, Condly SJ, Davenport M, Tinnakornsrisuphap T, Mack J, Khauv V, Zhou PS. A case series detailing the successful reversal of the effects of mifepristone using progesterone. Issues Law Med. 2018 Spring;33(1):21-31. PMID: 30831017.
Pruski M, Whitehouse D, Bow S. The right to choose to abort an abortion: should pro-choice advocates support abortion pill reversal? New Bioeth. 2022 Sep;28(3):252-267. doi: 10.1080/20502877.2022.2073857. Epub 2022 May 18. PMID: 35582874.