California Brings First-Time Lawsuit Against Anti-Abortion Movement’s ‘Abortion Pill Reversal’ Scheme

“Those who are struggling with the complex decision to get an abortion deserve support and trustworthy guidance—not lies and misinformation,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

10/9/2023
by JENIFER MCKENNA and CARRIE N. BAKER, Ms. Magazine

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit on Sept. 21 against a chain of California crisis pregnancy centers and its national parent organization for false advertising of “abortion pill reversal” (APR)—an unproven and possibly dangerous high-dose progesterone intervention the anti-abortion movement claims can “reverse” an underway medication abortion. This is the first lawsuit in the country challenging the CPC industry’s promotion of APR.

AG Bonta’s complaint charges RealOptions Obria, a five-site crisis pregnancy center chain in Northern California, and the Ohio-based Heartbeat International with violating California’s False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition law by falsely advertising “abortion pill reversal” as safe and effective. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to block further dissemination of the misleading claims, in addition to other remedies and penalties available under state law.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/10/09/abortion-pill-reversal/

09.10.2023

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Unfair Competition law

Colorado becomes the first state to ban controversial abortion pill reversals

As pills emerge as the latest front in the war over abortion, the practice of administering progesterone after mifepristone may soon be labeled as ‘medical misconduct’ in the state.

Claire Cleveland, KFF Health News
May 3, 2023

In Glenwood Springs, Colorado, registered nurse Katie Laven answers calls from people who’ve started the two-pill medication abortion regimen and want to stop the process.

“They are just in turmoil,” said Laven, who works at the Abortion Pill Rescue Network and answers some of the roughly 150 calls it says come in each month. “They feel like, ‘Well, maybe an abortion would make it better.’ And then they take the abortion pill and they’re like, ‘I don’t feel better. In fact, I feel much worse that I did that.’”

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2023/05/colorado-bans-abortion-pill-reversals/

The Father of the Abortion Pill

The 96-year-old scientist who came up with an idea for an “unpregnancy pill” decades ago has led an eventful life, from his teenage days in the French Resistance to his friendships with famous artists.

By Pam Belluck
Jan. 17, 2023

When the idea struck him, nearly 50 years ago, Dr. Étienne-Émile Baulieu believed it could be revolutionary. Creating a pill that could abort a pregnancy would transform reproductive health care, he thought, allowing women to avoid surgery, act earlier and carry out their decisions in private.

“When science meets women’s cause, it is irresistible,” Dr. Baulieu, 96, a French endocrinologist and biochemist often called the father of the abortion pill, said on a recent Sunday afternoon in his apartment in a century-old building a short walk from the Eiffel Tower.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/17/health/abortion-pill-inventor.html

What Abortion Pill ‘Reversal’ Really Accomplishes

It’s more than an unproven medical treatment—it’s a view into the antiabortion movement’s larger project.

Sep 5, 2022

THE AMERICAN ANTIABORTION movement is on a full-court press to remake the nation in its image. In June, its decades-long campaign to install sympathetic Supreme Court justices paid off with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, which stripped away the constitutional right to abortion. Now, the movement is pushing for draconian personhood laws (legislation granting fetuses the same rights as people) in an effort to make abortion murder.

In some states, the push is already working. In Georgia, for example, a new law allows expecting parents to claim fetuses as dependents on their tax returns. These victories are the result of a shrewd, ambitious strategy. The rise of an experimental treatment known as abortion pill “reversal” is part of this plan. Although it might appear a peripheral concern—hardly anyone actually seeks out this treatment—it’s a distinctly revealing pet project. The story of the rise of abortion pill reversal contains the antiabortion movement’s blueprint within it.

Continued: https://www.wired.com/story/abortion-pill-reversal-essay/

USA – The latest social media misinformation: Abortion reversal pills

After Dobbs, platforms’ uneven moderation approaches let an unproven “treatment” to reverse a medication abortion spread.

By REBECCA KERN and RUTH READER
08/20/2022

Social media companies are grappling with a flood of misinformation on an unexpected topic since Roe v. Wade was overturned: Posts promoting “abortion reversal pills.”

The dangerous and unproven treatment is being touted as a way for a pregnant person to halt a medication abortion before it can take effect. And while claims about these pills have existed on social media for years, they’re now skyrocketing — and getting a lot more traction with users.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/20/abortion-misinformation-social-media-00052645

How an unproven abortion ‘reversal’ treatment has advanced in the US

By Samantha Putterman
April 4, 2022

When Texas enacted a ban on abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, an international women’s health advocacy nonprofit organization saw a 1,100% increase in orders for so-called abortion pills.

The two-drug combination enables women to terminate their pregnancies within the first 10 weeks. Though the spike in demand has since leveled off at Aid Access, purchases hovered around 175% higher than usual in the months after the Texas law took effect.

Continued: https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/apr/04/abortions-reversible-how-unproven-abortion-r/

Activist Jex Blackmore took an abortion pill on live TV. The moment went viral

"I thought that it would be an opportunity to demonstrate the ease and effectiveness of the medication, and it happened at the right time for me personally," Blackmore said

Jan. 28, 2022
By Morgan Sung

A Detroit activist who went viral this week
after taking an abortion pill live while doing a local news interview said it
was not a gimmick and that they did it to demonstrate "the ease and
effectiveness of the medication."

Jex Blackmore, who uses they/them pronouns, appeared on a segment of WJBK FOX 2
Detroit's “Let It Rip" on Sunday to discuss abortion access with host
Charlie Langton and Rebecca Kiessling, an advocate and lawyer brought on to
argue the antiabortion stance.

continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/activist-jex-blackmore-took-abortion-pill-live-tv-moment-went-viral-rcna13851

Facebook and Google condemned over ads for ‘abortion pill reversal’

Adverts promoting ‘dangerous, unproven and unethical’ procedure shown millions of times, study finds

Alex Hern, Technology editor
Wed 15 Sep 2021

Facebook has served “abortion reversal” adverts 18.4m times since January 2020, according to a report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), promoting an “unproven, unethical” and “dangerous” procedure.

Google shows the adverts on more than four-fifths of searches related to abortion across a number of US cities, according to the CCDH research, targeted at search terms such as “unwanted pregnancy” and “abortion pill”.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/15/facebook-and-google-condemned-over-ads-for-abortion-pill-reversal

Health Canada deflects complaints about ads for ‘abortion-pill reversal’

Medical groups have condemned the treatment as unproven and potentially unsafe, but Alliance for Life argues there is good evidence reversal works and is safe

Tom Blackwell, National Post
Jul 07, 2021

Health Canada has essentially rejected two complaints about an anti-abortion group promoting a controversial process to “reverse” medical abortions, as the niche issue earns growing attention from both sides in the heated abortion debate.

The matter is one for provincial regulators to tackle, said federal officials this week after deciding to take no action on the advertising grievances.

Continued: https://nationalpost.com/health/health-canada-deflects-complaints-about-ads-for-abortion-pill-reversal

UK – Woman in her 40s felt ‘scared and pressured’ by Marie Stopes when quizzed about ‘abortion reversal’ treatment she received from pro-life medic

By STEPHEN ADAMS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
3 July 2021

A vulnerable woman has told the General Medical Council she felt 'scared and pressured' when the medical director of a major abortion provider quizzed her about 'abortion reversal' treatment she received from a pro-life doctor.

The woman, a mother in her 40s, sought help from NHS consultant Dr Dermot Kearney after she started a 'pills by post' abortion, but then changed her mind.

Continued: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9753587/Woman-40s-felt-scared-pressured-quizzed-abortion-reversal-treatment.html