In a Perspective article in the New England Journal of Medicine, ANSIRH’s Daniel Grossman and the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Kari White, point out that there is no evidence to support the effectiveness of “abortion reversal.” In 2015, they conducted a systematic review and found that administering progesterone, the key treatment in “abortion reversal” therapy, after a patient has taken mifepristone was no more likely to help continue a pregnancy than doing nothing at all.
The evidence indicates that few women change their mind after starting a medication abortion. Still, Arkansas, Idaho, South Dakota, and Utah require abortion providers to give patients information about this experimental therapy.
ANSIRH research has shown that the overwhelming majority of women are very certain about having an abortion when they present for care. However, increased efforts during pre-abortion counseling to identify women who might still be uncertain is recommended.
The full Perspective article, “Abortion ‘Reversal’ — Legislating without Evidence,” is available on the New England Journal of Medicine website.