Battle over abortion pill 'reversal' fuels legal and medical debate
Some states are trying to clamp down on the claim by anti-abortion advocates that medication abortions can be paused midway.
“IT MAY NOT BE TOO LATE TO SAVE YOUR PREGNANCY.” That message blares from a website awash in pink.
The site, run by the anti-abortion group Heartbeat International, describes what it calls “abortion pill reversal,” based on the disputed idea that it’s possible to undo the first step of a medication abortion by taking the hormone progesterone within 24-72 hours.
Started as an experimental treatment more than a decade ago, abortion reversal is now widely promoted in anti-abortion circles — and deeply contentious outside of them. Major medical organizations and researchers say it’s inadequately studied and potentially dangerous.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is one of them, calling the process “unproven and unethical.”
The debate has simmered for years, but now, two years after the fall of Roe v. Wade and with the use of medication abortion at an all-time high, legislative efforts and courtroom battles over the treatment have sprung up in at least nine states.
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