The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Some lawmakers push ‘abortion reversal’ treatments. A study shows how dangerous they are.

December 24, 2019 at 5:57 p.m. EST
The abortion drug Mifepristone, also known as RU-486. (Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Several states now require women who seek medication abortions to be provided with dubious information that the procedure could be stopped, allowing a pregnancy to continue.

But when researchers attempted to carry out a legitimate study of whether these “abortion reversal” treatments were effective and safe, they had to stop almost immediately — because some of the women who participated in the study experienced dangerous hemorrhaging that sent them to the hospital.