Use of the two-pill method increased significantly in 2020, a trend that spiked during the pandemic with the rise of telemedicine, according to Guttmacher Institute research.
. That move led to stepped-up efforts by abortion opponents to seek additional restrictions on medication abortions through state legislatures.
The procedure includes mifepristone, which blocks a hormone needed for pregnancy to continue, followed one or two days later by misoprostol, a drug that causes cramping that empties the womb. The combination is approved for use within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, although some health care providers offer it in the second trimester, a practice called off-label use., according to the Guttmacher report.
It notes that in 32 states, medication abortions must be prescribed by physicians even though other health care providers including physician assistants can prescribe other medicines. Andto patients is banned in three states — Arizona, Arkansas and Texas, the report says. According to the World Health Organization, about 73 million abortions are performed each year. About 630,000 abortions were reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019 although information from some states is missing. Guttmacher’s last comprehensive abortion report dates to 2017; the data provided Thursday comes from an update due out later this year.
Global numbers on rates of medication versus surgical abortions are limited. Data from England and Wales show that medication abortions have outpaced surgical abortions for about 10 years.