North Carolina Has Introduced A Bill That Could Make The Abortion Pill A Less Viable Option

An abortion bill proposed by legislators in North Carolina would make it more difficult for women to successfully move forward with an abortion pill because of the barriers it would create. Under HB-26 doctors administering the abortion pill would be required to both explain to women the manner in which abortions can be reversed, as well as not move forward with the second dose of the abortion pill unless fetal death can be proven.

Cosmopolitan explains:

“In other words, for the roughly 30 to 50 percent of patients for whom Mifepristone alone doesn’t immediately end the pregnancy, obtaining the second medication to finish the abortion may be impossible depending on how this language is interpreted.”

The abortion is a popular, and safe if administered correctly, option for women who wish to terminate a pregnancy up to 10 weeks after the first day of the woman’s last period. According to Planned Parenthood, the likelihood of success is 93-100% for women who take the pills before or during their 10th week of pregnancy.

The abortion pill is a series of pills, the first of which is administered at a clinic by a physician and which is intended to halt the production of progesterone in the body, which would begin to terminate the pregnancy. The second pill removes the fetus from the woman’s body. Planned Parenthood likens the physical reaction to the pills as that of extreme cramping during menstrual cycles.

According to Cosmopolitan, the second pill is necessary because for about 30-50% of women, the first pill alone would not terminate the pregnancy. This is where the North Carolina bill would make it near impossible for some women to complete the abortion pill series. If the second pill is dependent on proof that the pregnancy has been terminated, many women would not fall in that category.

Women who do not fully complete the abortion pill series run the risk of taking the pregnancy on full term, having a successful abortion or getting a life-threatening infection.

Cover image courtesy of Getty Images.

By Vivian Nunez on February 10, 2017