USA – The Other Abortion Pill

In the U.S., medication abortion usually consists of two drugs. One of them has always mattered more.|

By Patrick Adams
SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

In the months since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, demand for medication abortion has soared. The method already accounted for more than half of all abortions in the United States before the Court’s decision; now reproductive-rights activists and sites such as Plan C, which shares information about medication abortion by mail, are fielding an explosion in interest in abortion pills. As authorized by the FDA, medication abortion consists of two drugs. The first one, mifepristone, blocks the hormone progesterone, which is necessary for a pregnancy to continue. The second, misoprostol, brings on contractions of the uterus that expel its contents. The combination is, according to studies conducted in the U.S., somewhere between 95 percent and 99 percent effective in ending a pregnancy and is extremely safe.

Continued: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/09/abortion-pill-misoprostol-effectiveness/671465/

USA – Self-Managed Abortion Is Medically Very Safe. But Is It Legally Safe?

Self-Managed Abortion Is Medically Very Safe. But Is It Legally Safe?

4/1/2020
by Carrie N. Baker

Between 1969 and 1973, feminists in Chicago with no formal medical training formed an underground abortion service called Jane that performed nearly 12,000 safe illegal abortions.

Today, as many states increasingly restrict medical professionals’ ability to offer abortion, women are once again finding ways to access safe abortion on their own.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2020/04/01/self-managed-abortion-is-medically-very-safe-but-is-it-legally-safe/

How abortion has changed since the Roe v. Wade ruling in the U.S.

How abortion has changed since the Roe v. Wade ruling in the U.S.

By David Crary and Carla K. Johnson
The Associated Press
May 26, 2019

A wave of state abortion bans has set off speculation: What would happen if Roe v. Wade, the ruling establishing abortion rights nationwide, were overturned?

Although far from a certainty, even with increased conservative clout on the Supreme Court, a reversal of Roe would mean abortion policy would revert to the states, and many would be eager to impose bans.

Continued: https://globalnews.ca/news/5318829/abortion-changes-roe-v-wade-1973/

Abortion pills now available by mail in US — but FDA is investigating

Abortion pills now available by mail in US -- but FDA is investigating

By Jessica Ravitz, CNN
Tue October 23, 2018

(CNN)Signaling a new chapter in the battle over abortion access in the United States, a European organization has stepped into the fray, providing Americans a way to get doctor-prescribed pills by mail to medically induce abortions at home.

Called Aid Access, the organization says it uses telemedicine, including online consultations, to facilitate services for healthy women who are less than nine weeks pregnant. If a woman completes the consultation and is deemed eligible for a medical abortion, the organization's founder writes a prescription for the two pills used to terminate the pregnancy, misoprostol and mifepristone. Prescriptions are then sent to a pharmacy in India, which fills and mails orders to the US.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/23/health/abortion-pills-by-mail-us-fda/index.html

23.10.2018

abortion pills by mail

Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health

Aid Access

American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

Americans United for Life

Beverly Winikoff

Catherine Glenn Foster

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Daniel Grossman

Dr. Rebecca Gomperts

FDA

Food and Drug Administration

Google searches for abortion

Guttmacher Institute

Gynuity Health Projects

self-induced abortion

self-managed abortion

SIA Legal Team

Students for Life of America

USA: Exploring the Feasibility of Obtaining Mifepristone and Misoprostol from the Internet

ABSTRACT

Objectives.
We aimed to document the experience of buying abortion pills from online vendors that do not require a prescription and to evaluate the active ingredient content of the pills received. Study Design. We searched the internet to identify a convenience sample of websites that sold mifepristone and misoprostol to purchasers in the United States and attempted to order these products. We documented price, shipping time and other aspects of ordering. We sent the samples received to a testing laboratory that measured the amount of active ingredient in individual tablets.

Results. We identified 20 websites and ordered 22 products: 20 mifepristone-misoprostol combination products and two that contained only misoprostol. We received 18 combination products and the two misoprostol products from 16 different sites. No site required a prescription or any relevant medical information. The time between order and receipt of the 20 products ranged from 3-21 business days (median 9.5 days). The price for the 18 combination products ranged from $110 to $360, including shipping and fees; the products without mifepristone cost less. Chemical assays found that the 18 tablets labeled 200 mg mifepristone contained between 184.3 mg and 204.1 mg mifepristone, while the 20 tablets labeled 200 mcg misoprostol contained between 34.1 mcg and 201.4 mcg of the active ingredient.

Conclusions. Obtaining abortion medications from online pharmaceutical websites is feasible in the US. The mifepristone tablets received contained within 8% of the labeled amount of active agent. The misoprostol tablets all contained that compound but usually less than labeled.

IMPLICATIONS STATEMENT
Given our findings, we expect that some people for whom clinic-based abortion is not easily available or acceptable may consider self-sourcing pills from the internet to be a rational option.

Continued at source: http://www.contraceptionjournal.org/pb/assets/raw/Health%20Advance/journals/contra/CON_8985.pdf

U.S.: FDA urged to let abortion pill be sold at pharmacies

FDA urged to let abortion pill be sold at pharmacies

Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Associated Press

NEW YORK - The so-called abortion pill — now dispensed only in clinics, hospitals and doctors' offices — should be made available by prescription in pharmacies across the U.S., according to a group of doctors and public health experts urging an end to tough federal restrictions on the drug.

The appeal to the Food and Drug Administration came in a commentary published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Among the 10 co-authors were doctors and academics from Stanford, Princeton and Columbia universities, as well as leaders of major reproductive-health organizations.

Continued at source: Chronicle Journal: http://www.chroniclejournal.com/life/health/fda-urged-to-let-abortion-pill-be-sold-at-pharmacies/article_7c2f39d3-1afe-56b1-99b7-f0a61474e46b.html