A groundbreaking new study has revealed that the abortion pill is 22 times more dangerous than previously recognized in FDA data.
The largest-ever study of its kind -- released Monday by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) -- found that 10.93 percent of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging or another serious adverse event within 45 days of taking mifepristone -- a 22-fold increase over the 0.5 percent cited by the FDA and Danco, the manufacturer of the brand name chemical abortion pill Mifeprex.
The study was based on statistics from an insurance claims database with hundreds of thousands of women who were prescribed mifepristone abortions from 2017 to 2023.
“Danco Laboratories markets Mifeprex as ‘the safe and effective abortion pill,’ but our research shows that mifepristone abortion, as currently practiced in the U.S., is not safe and effective,” the study’s authors said.
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Mifepristone is the first drug taken in a two-step chemical abortion regimen and works by blocking the hormone progesterone, causing the lining of the uterus to break down in order to kill the unborn baby. A second drug, misoprostol, taken a day or so after the mifepristone, leads to contractions and the delivery of a presumably dead fetus. Mifepristone is approved in the U.S. for use up to 10 weeks in pregnancy.
The FDA and Danco had relied on the results of 10 clinical trials with 30,966 participants. The EPPC study, though, is based on “real-world insurance claims” from a much larger group — 865,727 women — who were prescribed mifepristone abortions, the study says.
“In light of this research, we urge the FDA to reinstate earlier, stronger patient safety protocols and reconsider its approval of mifepristone altogether. Women deserve better than the abortion pill,” said the study’s authors, Jamie Bryan Hall and Ryan T. Anderson.
Information on the study can be found at a new website, StopHarmingWomen.org, that also includes resources and testimonials from women who suffered serious complications from the abortion pill. The full study is available HERE.
The study results showing that the abortion pill is 22 times more dangerous than the FDA has recognized should prompt major changes in its regulation, the head of the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. said.
Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, said the findings should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers and the public.
“This groundbreaking study confirms what women and the pro-life community have long known: the abortion pill is not safe,” Godsey told Pregnancy Help News.
“Women deserve care, not careless risks disguised as healthcare,” Godsey said. “The FDA must act swiftly to reinstate commonsense safeguards for the abortion pill -- or reconsider its approval altogether.”
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“Women’s lives and health are far too valuable to be treated as acceptable casualties in the rush to expand chemical abortion,” he added.
The Biden administration loosened regulations on the abortion pill, allowing it to be prescribed via telehealth and delivered by mail without the need for an in-person clinic visit. The Trump administration has not reversed the Biden rules.
The study’s authors urge the FDA to “reinstate the original patient safety protocols that were required when mifepristone was first approved” under the Clinton administration more than two decades ago.
“Prescribing mifepristone and misoprostol for the termination of pregnancy should require at least three in-person office visits by the patient -- as originally required by the FDA,” the study said.
Further, it said mifepristone should only be prescribed and administered by physicians in a clinical setting, with strict requirements for confirming gestational age, reporting serious adverse events, limiting its use to the first seven weeks of pregnancy, and requiring at least three in-person office visits, as originally mandated by the FDA.
The study underscores the need for the abortion pill reversal, Godsey said.
“At Heartbeat International, we are committed to offering women a real choice -- one that prioritizes their health, safety, and future,” Godsey said. “The Abortion Pill Rescue Network stands ready to serve women who change their minds and seek to preserve the precious life within them.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News.
