Study Proves Abortion Pill Can be Stopped

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SAN DIEGO, Calf. (ChurchMilitant.com) - A new study is blasting the claim that medical abortions cannot be stopped.

Published Wednesday, Issues in Law and Medicine, a "groundbreaking study" followed hundreds of women who changed their minds about completing the abortion after taking the first dose of the fetal killing drug, Mifepristone, sold under the name Mifeprex or RU-486. "The use of progesterone to reverse the effects of the competitive progesterone receptor blocker, mifepristone, appears to be both safe and effective," it concludes.

The "abortion pill" has been used in the United States since 2000 and by 2014, 31 percent of non-hospital induced abortions were medical abortions. Information found online is often conflicting and cites a lack of credible studies that is leaving women with more questions than answers.

The results the new study were compiled by observing the cases of 754 patients who decided to stop the medical abortion process after taking mifepristone. Participants for the study were obtained from women in several countries who called the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline, (877)558-0333 and had all taken mifepristone and had second thoughts.

Of the 1,668 calls from women who had taken the abortion pill and changed their mind during the four-year study period, 754 actually attempted the reversal with a naturally occurring pregnancy hormone, progesterone. A number of different dosages and methods were used to administer progesterone, but the study authors concluded they achieved an overall 48 percent success rate in reversing the medical abortion.

Early studies found that mifepristone does not cause birth defects, and the results of the study show that the number of birth defects of the babies born after the reversal process was approximately the same as the general population, 2.7 and 3 percent, respectively.

The study authors admit that a limitation of the study was that it was not a randomized placebo-controlled trial. "However, a placebo-controlled trial in the population of women who regret their abortion and want to save the pregnancy would be unethical," they note.

Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, was developed in 1980s and was first legalized in France in 1988. It works by blocking bonding more strongly to the hormone, progesterone, that helps the fertilized egg attach to the mother's uterus. By preventing the early placenta from linking the mother and baby, the new life is gradually deprived of oxygen and starved until it eventually dies.

A second drug, Misoprostol, is required because in 20 - 40 percent of cases the dead baby is not fully expelled from the mother. Unless the baby is removed, the woman could suffer serious health risks and possibly die.

Additionally, if a woman has a tubal or ectopic pregnancy, using Mifepristone will not affect the pregnancy. Approximately two percent of all pregnancies are ectopic and it is one of the leading causes of maternal death.

The symptoms of a tubal pregnancy are the same as with a medical abortion and women can die without proper treatment. By 2004, it was reported that the FDA "has received 676 reports of problems with the drug, including 17 ectopic pregnancies, 72 cases of blood loss so severe that they required transfusions and 7 cases of serious infections."

After the FDA approved RU-486, the American Association of Pro-Life OB/GYN, AAPLOG, urged the FDA to reverse its approval of the drug claiming the "FDA approved the drug in violation of its own regulations and evidence that Mifeprex is harming American women."

AAPLOG noted that the FDA fast-tracked the approval process for RU-486 under the policy that allows for accelerated approval of new drugs for life-threatening illnesses, a policy instituted during the HIV and AIDS crisis. AAPLOG says this is a "slight" against American women because they may not be able to sue after being harmed by the drug, saying:

Drugs approved under this accelerated approval process can still be considered new and experimental, which generally means that manufacturers and sellers of the drug cannot be held strictly liable for injuries sustained from its use. Patients injured by mifepristone may have less legal recourse to a tort action.

AAPLOG also notes this is the first time the FDA did not release the name of the name of the Chinese pharmaceutical company making Mifeprex. "It is not clear what warranted the withholding of this information from the American public, especially by a federal agency charged with protecting consumers and patients," it said.

After much outcry, the media learned that the abortion pill is distributed by Danco Laboratories, LLC., a Manhattan-based distributor with ties to population control billionaires like George Soros and the Packard Foundation. They had contracted with the Hualian Pharmaceutical Co. who had been making the drug for the Chinese government since 1993.

The patents for the drug have since expired, opening the door to a number of shoddy, off-brands being available illegally over the internet.

The study found that "two reasonable protocols can be suggested for women who seek to reverse the effects of mifepristone," either a regime of progesterone pills or by a shot. The study's authors want to conduct further research to find with delivery method and dosages are the most effective and least burdensome for the mothers.

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