Patients’ access to lifesaving medicine is under threat because an anti-abortion rights organization sued in federal district court to overrule the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, which has been used to terminate early pregnancies for almost a quarter century in the U.S. If the judge, appointed by the previous federal administration, rules for the plaintiffs, a medicine considered essential by the World Health Organization will become illegal to distribute or use in the U.S.
How did we get here? In 2000, the FDA approved the drug mifepristone for use in medication abortions. Mifepristone blocks the activity of progesterone. It comes from a class of drugs also used to control hyperglycemia caused by Cushing’s syndrome; treat brain and ovarian cancers, endometriosis and fibroids; and even induce labor. This policy move changed the game for reproductive health care, making abortion care safer, cheaper and easier to access, thus increasing equity and decreasing unnecessary delays in care.
Almost 90% of abortions occur within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, during the blastocyst or embryonic stage, and over half of U.S. abortions are medication abortions. Up to 11 weeks, medication abortions can be used instead of surgery to terminate pregnancies in most cases. A combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, both of which are safer than taking Tylenol, are considered the gold standard treatment and deemed safe and effective across the globe.
