The Abortion Pill: Under Threat
The war against women is overrun with hostile combatants and legislative weapons of every form, and certain anti-choice measures naturally grab more spotlight than others.
An increasing majority of the public has voiced their anger and frustration with legislators pushing invasive ultrasound laws and special interest groups lobbying to impose their religious beliefs and choke off access to contraception.
Meanwhile, somewhat removed from the media glare, a crucial medical advance is coming under increasing threat. Last year, we challenged an Oklahoma law that arbitrarily restricts women’s ability to use these highly effective, and medically proven, medications. Our lawyers have asked a judge to overturn the law. There’s a good chance we’ll get a quick decision and find out whether women will continue to have access to this important procedure.
Why is this such a big deal? Medication abortion involves two steps. When a woman in the first nine weeks of pregnancy goes to a reproductive health facility, she takes one tablet of a drug called mifepristone. This blocks a hormone called progesterone, which is responsible for sustaining a pregnancy.
Sometimes a woman’s uterus empties without any further action, but more often women take a drug called misoprostol several hours after the mifepristone to trigger that process.
In the best of situations, this happens when a woman is comfortable, in the privacy of her home, and being supported by a friend or loved one.
Medication abortion is a simple, safe procedure that allows a woman to choose to end a pregnancy in a private, noninvasive way in consultation with her doctor. And anti-choice activists are doing everything they can to stop it.
We are eager to hear from the Oklahoma court. Last month, we won a huge case that overturned an Oklahoma law requiring women seeking abortion to undergo an ultrasound, see the image, and suffer through a state-authored script read by the doctor. The victory was a sure sign that state legislatures have been overreaching in their unrelenting effort to stop women from exercising their reproductive rights.
We hope that the courts similarly reject the Oklahoma legislature’s extreme and misguided attempt to ban the abortion pill. The medical advances that made medication abortion widely available have made a huge difference for more than one million American women. We fight these laws because all women deserve a reproductive health service that is compassionate, private, and makes total sense.