New Republic - When people talk about “the abortion pill,” they typically mean mifepristone, the first drug in the FDA-approved medication abortion regimen. Conservatives are currently lobbying both federal courts and the Trump administration to roll back access to mifepristone and make it functionally inaccessible—if not get it withdrawn from the market altogether. If more restrictions take effect, many abortion providers have said they’ll switch to abortions using only the second medication in the protocol, misoprostol, which causes uterine contractions.
With all that in mind, it was intriguing to see a study published last week that suggested that a different FDA-approved drug could possibly stand in for mifepristone: ulipristal acetate, the active ingredient in the prescription-only emergency contraceptive Ella. (Ella is the brand name for a 30 milligram ulipristal pill used to delay ovulation and prevent pregnancy.) Yes, that’s right, a birth control ingredient being researched for abortion.
For the study, researchers in Mexico City enrolled 133 women who were up to nine weeks’ pregnant and seeking abortions. The women took 60 milligrams of ulipristal, followed 24 hours later by 800 micrograms of misoprostol. All but four of the women ended their pregnancies without further intervention, for a completion rate of 97 percent. (Those four received a procedure or additional medication to complete the abortion.) That efficacy rate is similar to the gold-standard regimen of mifepristone plus misoprostol, though there were no comparison groups in this proof-of-concept study. More
No comments:
Post a Comment