By Carrie Baker for Ms. Magazine.
Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the Ms. Magazine-Public News Service Collaboration

Over half of clinician-supervised abortions in the U.S. in 2020 were done with a combination of two medications: mifepristone and misoprostol. A Trump-appointed judge in Texas will soon decide a lawsuit brought by anti-abortion extremists asking him to force mifepristone off the market in all 50 states. If he does, as anticipated, reproductive rights advocates are ready to offer a safe and effective alternative to end pregnancy through three months: a higher dosage of misoprostol taken alone.

Misoprostol is a widely available ulcer medication that can induce a miscarriage by causing contractions of the uterus to expel a pregnancy. In the 1980s, Brazilian women began using misoprostol to end their pregnancies because abortion was unavailable through the medical system. Self-managed abortion with misoprostol resulted in precipitous declines in infection, hemorrhaging and death from unsafe abortion.

Today in countries where abortion is legally restricted, misoprostol is often used alone for self-managed abortion because it is inexpensive and widely available, often over the counter, unlike mifepristone.

Many studies from around the world have found that self-managed abortion with misoprostol alone is 93 to 99 percent effective and very safe. Because of the widespread availability of mifepristone in the United States, the use of the misoprostol alone for abortion had not been studied here, until recently.

On Feb. 6, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin published peer-reviewed research on the use of misoprostol alone for abortion. The research found that misoprostol alone was over 88 percent effective, with few incidents of serious adverse events or signs of potential abortion complications.

"This is the first U.S.-based study on misoprostol alone for self-managed abortion and it's coming at this critical time where we don't know what's going to happen with access to mifepristone," said the study's lead author, Dana M. Johnson, a Ph.D. candidate in public policy and demography at the University of Texas at Austin and a senior associate research scientist at Ibis Reproductive Health. "Our contribution with this study is to add to the broad evidence base we have from the international space on how safe and effective misoprostol is."

The research was based on data from the Vienna-based telemedicine abortion provider Aid Access, which provides telemedicine abortion services with pills in all 50 states in the U.S. Due to pandemic-related challenges shipping mifepristone, Aid Access prescribed misoprostol alone to over one thousand U.S.-based patients in June of 2020. Aid Access physicians either mailed misoprostol directly to patients or sent prescriptions to local pharmacies for pick-up.

"We took a very conservative approach by including just the people who had a totally confirmed, complete abortion at four weeks and didn't get a surgical intervention," said Johnson. "That is why our finding is 88 percent effectiveness, which is much lower than the SAFE Study from Ibis, which showed 98 percent effectiveness."

Published in November of 2021, the SAFE Study-which stands for Studying Accompaniment Feasibility and Effectiveness-showed that 98.8 percent of those who used the misoprostol-alone regimen had a complete abortion without surgical intervention. "SMA with misoprostol only is highly effective, and warrants renewed attention," it concludes, calling it "no longer a second-tier method, but one that offers similar effectiveness, and often greater accessibility, than the mifepristone and misoprostol regimen."

While this research shows misoprostol alone is a little less effective than the combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, extra doses of misoprostol can increase efficacy.

"We did take this conservative approach, but our findings were really, really good. There were very few people who had a serious adverse event. There were very few people who had any kind of treatment for that or a symptom of a potential complication," added Johnson.

Johnson is now conducting follow-up interviews with the research participants to understand their experiences of using misoprostol alone, which can be more difficult than the combination of mifepristone and misoprostol because the misoprostol-alone regimen calls for multiple doses of the medication, as opposed to one dose if combined with mifepristone. Those who use misoprostol alone may experience stronger cramping. Side effects from misoprostol can include nausea, fever, chills, vomiting and diarrhea, which can be more severe when taking misoprostol alone because of the higher dosage.

Johnson is finding in her research that women's experiences of using misoprostol are shaped by their mindset and how prepared they felt. Many found information on Reddit.com. The abortion Subreddit is curated by OARS (Online Abortion Resource Squad) with trained, expert volunteers who "ensure that every Reddit post asking for abortion-related help gets a quality, accurate, compassionate answer and referral to resources."

"People asked a lot of questions and that brought a sense of comfort because if you know that you can prep your hot water bottle or your ibuprofen or your chamomile tea, you're going into it with a little bit more of a mindset that you can manage this pain," said Johnson.

Research from other countries has shown that patients can have positive abortion experiences with misoprostol alone when they have access to the information they need, feel prepared for what they will experience and are supported through the process.

If the Texas court imposes a nationwide ban on mifepristone, women and pregnant people can still access the highly effective and medically safe method to end an early pregnancy with misoprostol alone. And unlike mifepristone, misoprostol is inexpensive and widely available by prescription for different indications in pharmacies throughout the U.S.

While the FDA has not labeled misoprostol for abortion, U.S.-based providers can prescribe the medication off label for this use to patients in states where abortion remains legal. Many telemedicine abortion providers have already pledged to offer misoprostol off label to their patients if mifepristone is removed from the market, including Abortion on Demand, Aid Access, carafem, Choix, Forward Midwifery, Hey Jane and Just the Pill. Planned Parenthood has also said they will offer this service.

National Abortion Federation's clinical practice guidelines suggest offering misoprostol alone where mifepristone combination is not accessible. The World Health Organization also has guidelines for misoprostol alone as a safe and effective options for abortion care. According to these guidelines, women in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy dissolve four 200 mg of misoprostol between their gum and cheek, three times at three-hour intervals.

"With clinical options for abortion severely limited post-Dobbs, these guidelines are important in affirming self-managed abortion as a safe and essential practice that can be empowering for those seeking to end a pregnancy," concluded the U.T. Austin study authors. "There is potential for its use in the U.S. as a method of ensuring reproductive autonomy, especially for populations who have been systematically cut off from safe, affordable and non-coercive reproductive healthcare services."

Carrie Baker wrote this article for Ms. Magazine.



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Health clinics in New England and elsewhere are coping with a sharp uptick in requests for long-acting contraceptives in the wake of the election.

Planned Parenthood centers in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont report more than double their weekly average appointment inquiries for intrauterine devices - or IUD's - and the birth control implant.

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England CEO Nicole Clegg said the organization had exceeded its monthly average for vasectomy consultations by mid-November.

"There's a lot of anxiety," said Clegg, "that people have around whether or not they're going to have access to their preferred birth control choice."

Clegg said patients are also calling with concerns about the availability of gender-affirming care.

She said the increase mirrors what the organization experienced after President-elect Donald Trump's first win in 2016, and the eventual overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

In New Hampshire, abortion remains accessible up to twenty-four weeks of pregnancy, but health care advocates note that state law does not expressly protect abortion rights and that anything could change under the new Republican trifecta at the statehouse.

Clegg said New Englanders are already showing a heightened interest in volunteering at health centers to ensure patients can get the care they need.

"We've had these intense fights before," said Clegg, "and time and time again the American public has stood up for Planned Parenthood and our rights. We think they'll do the same again this time."

Clegg said a loss of federal funds would reduce peoples' access to vital, preventative health care services.

The co-leaders of Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency have already vowed to cut $300 million earmarked for groups like Planned Parenthood, which they claim pursue a progressive agenda.





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A majority of South Dakotans have voted to maintain a strict abortion ban but other factors are shifting the landscape for reproductive care in the state.

Of the 10 states voting on abortion during the 2024 election, South Dakota was one of three to keep a ban in place.

Kim Floren, director of the Justice through Empowerment Network, which provides financial assistance to people seeking abortions, said the state's view on the issue is not new but concern is growing over how the federal government may affect reproductive rights.

"I'm feeling the panic from people who are in areas that maybe haven't experienced what we've experienced as far as barriers go," Floren noted. "The reality is that we as a community can figure out how to take care of one another."

The Justice through Empowerment Network provides assistance with travel and transportation, child care, lodging, interpreters, birth control and medical procedure funding. Floren pointed out the organization supports 30 to 40 people per month. The final tally for Amendment G, which would have established a right to abortion in the state's constitution, was 41% for and 59% against.

South Dakotans voted in 2006 and 2008 against near-total abortion bans but Floren stressed since then, President-elect Donald Trump's first term made people feel "emboldened to be more vocal." Still, she acknowledged his second term will begin in a different context than his first.

"Before Dobbs, we did not have all of these reliable, safe websites where you can order abortion pills from and have them sent to your house for extremely cheap," Floren observed. "In some ways, access here has gotten better."

Floren added Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota will return to his post after running for vice president on the Democratic ticket. Walz in 2023 signed a bill protecting patients who travel to Minnesota for abortion care and their providers from legal penalties in other states.


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It is now up to Wisconsin Supreme Court justices to decide the fate of an abortion law from the mid-1800s.

A circuit court determined last year an 1849 law does not apply to "medically consented" abortions in Wisconsin. The high court heard arguments Monday about whether a 1985 state law overrides the older one, allowing abortions before the point at which a fetus could survive outside the womb.

Jenny Higgins, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said while the impact of this case is critically important, even if the 1849 law is determined to be unenforceable, returning to the status quo would mean a dire landscape for abortion access.

"Even though abortion is technically available at clinics in Wisconsin right now, it's heavily restricted," Higgins explained. "Because of insurance and Medicaid prohibitions, people have to pay out-of-pocket for a service that should be covered by insurance."

The 1849 law, which was brought to light after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, prompted a statewide freeze on abortion services for more than a year. Higgins noted if Wisconsin's high court rules the law still applies today, the state would be looking at another abortion freeze.

Abortion access disproportionately affects those who are already the most marginalized, Higgins pointed out. She noted while people from all walks of life may find themselves needing abortion care, factors like poverty and racism make it much harder for some to achieve reproductive autonomy, compared to those with more economic and social resources.

"Those effects make it much harder for folks to be able to access contraceptive care, be in relationships that are stable and healthy and communicative, to be able to see past the end of the day into one's future if you are, again, mostly focused on your own economic scarcity or figuring out how to feed your kids, or figuring out how not to get evicted," Higgins outlined.

The 1976 Hyde Amendment, established three years after Roe v. Wade, prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion. Higgins hopes federal lawmakers will focus more on this amendment when considering the barriers to abortion care.


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