A study in the United States has found that over 5 per cent of women who had a chemical abortion took mifepristone again after a failed abortion attempt, raising more concerns about the safety of the drug.
865,727 abortions using mifepristone between 2017 and 2023 were analysed by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which took its data from subsequent US insurance claims.
Over 1 in 20 women who took the abortion drug mifepristone took it again within 45 days after the first attempt failed.
24,563 women required a surgical abortion after taking the mifepristone pill, and almost 7,000 had both a second round of mifepristone and a surgical abortion.
“Our real-world data represents the actual experiences of women who take the abortion pill in the US today”, the study’s authors said.
Chemical abortions in the US and UK involve taking mifepristone, usually followed by the drug misoprostol.
Another study, published last month by the same research centre, reported that abortion pills are 22x more dangerous than previously supposed.
Out of 865,000 chemical abortions between 2017 and 2023, 10.93 per cent of women suffered sepsis, infection, haemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days.
The Center called on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “reconsider its approval altogether” of misoprostol in response to its troubling findings.
“Research shows unequivocally that mifepristone abortion, as currently practiced in the US is considerably more dangerous to women than is represented on the FDA-approved drug label”, the Center stated.
It added: “The FDA should further investigate the harm this drug causes to women and, based on objective safety criteria, reconsider its approval altogether. Women deserve better than the abortion pill.”
Chemical abortion is now the most common type of abortion in the UK. In 2022, chemical abortion accounted for 86% of all abortions in England and Wales, up from 48% in 2012.
There were over a quarter of a million abortions of all types in England and Wales in 2022.
In 2023, a one-off study found that post-abortion medical complications were much higher than official statistics had shown. By combining independent providers’ data with NHS follow-up data, the number of abortion complications – such as cervical tears and sepsis – trebled.
Such complications remain underreported in the UK, though Lord Moylan’s Complications from Abortions (Annual Report) Bill is seeking to establish an annual report to provide more comprehensive abortion risk data.
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