Abortion complications underreported, new report finds

Many women who go to the emergency room for complications related to a chemical abortion have likely been withholding critical information from medical staff, according to an investigation by the National Right to Life. The pro-life organization’s report, released this week, examines some possible reasons that the rate of complications from mifepristone varies so significantly between the drug’s label and independent research. According to the Food and Drug Administration, just 0.5% of women who take the abortifacient experienced serious adverse events. However, a May report from the Ethics & Public Policy Center reviewed insurance claims and found the rate to be closer to 11%.

National Right to Life suggested that one reason for the discrepancy is that pro-abortion advocates have told women to conceal their use of chemical abortion pills, even in life-threatening situations. According to the report, pro-abortion organizations and activists have advised women that they can tell doctors they’re having a spontaneous miscarriage when visiting the hospital for mifepristone complications like hemorrhage. The abortion advocates who do so claim the recommendation protects women from prosecution in states with pro-life laws, according to the report. Regardless of the laws, the National Right to Life report states doctors must know if a woman in the hospital has taken abortion pills or had a natural miscarriage because it could affect their treatment plan.

Most state laws that protect unborn babies have explicit exemptions for women from criminal or civil charges, while other laws specifically target abortionists for liability, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Women who take mifepristone are more at risk for a rare type of sepsis than those who experience a natural miscarriage, said the institute’s Director of Medical Affairs Dr. Ingrid Skop.

What else did the report find? National Right to Life said a lack of media coverage of serious complications was another complicating factor when evaluating the safety of abortion drugs. While some reports have highlighted the experiences and deaths of some women after they took abortion drugs without medical supervision, most coverage incorrectly blamed pro-life laws for the tragedies. The National Right to Life report also criticized a study conducted by the University of California San Francisco that reclassified some serious incidents like hemorrhage, infection, and surgery as minor complications. That reclassification has led to misleading reports that mifepristone is safe, despite the study revealing that more than 5% of women who took the pill went to the emergency room, according to the National Right to Life. 

Dig deeper: Read my report in Vitals about the study earlier this year that showed greater risks to women who take abortion pills.