ANSIRH News

Abortion safety does not differ depending on facility type

Thirteen states have laws that require abortion clinics to meet the standard of Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs). This is the first study to directly investigate the safety of abortions performed in ASCs compared to office-based settings. There was no significant difference in rates of complications after having an abortion in an ASC compared to having an abortion in an office-based setting.  Laws that mandate that abortions be performed in ASCs do not increase the safety of abortions.

Study finds abortion-related emergency department visits are extremely rare

We analyzed data from nearly 200 million emergency department (ED) visits between 2009 and 2013 by women of reproductive age and found that among all visits, only about 0.01% (1 in every 10,000) were abortion-related. Previous research on abortion-related ED visits has been conducted at the state level only; this study is the first to use this extensive data set to explore the topic on a national scale.

The Turnaway Study finds that abortion does not increase women’s risk of experiencing suicidal thoughts

New research from ANSIRH’s Turnaway Study found no evidence that women who have abortions are at higher risk of developing symptoms of suicidal ideation than women denied abortions. Women who sought abortion at later gestational ages were at no higher risk of having suicidal thoughts post-abortion seeking than those who sought abortion earlier in pregnancy. 

We found that having a history of mental health conditions, and intimate partner violence increased women’s risk of experiencing symptoms of suicidal ideation, not having an abortion.

Allowing pharmacists to dispense medication abortion on prescription could improve access to early abortion care

Despite the growing use of medications to induce termination of early pregnancy, pharmacist involvement in abortion care is currently limited in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for Mifeprex® (mifepristone 200 mg) prohibits the dispensing of the drug on prescription at pharmacies. But, given its safety record, this dispensing restriction is not evidence-based and constrains access to medication abortion.