Info on medical abortion in the US from AP News.

Abortion pill used in a quarter of US abortions

Roughly a fourth of American women getting early abortions last year did so with drugs rather than surgery, statistics show, as a new study reported improved safety in using the so-called "abortion pill."
Some experts predict the percentage of such "medical abortions," which offer more privacy than surgical termination at an abortion clinic or hospital, will rise even more due to the new study.
The research, done at Planned Parenthood clinics across the country, shows that a new way of giving pills to induce abortion virtually eliminated the risk for a rare but dangerous infection.
"This is the first really huge documentation of how safe and effective medical abortion is," said Dr. Beverly Winikoff, a professor of family health and population at Columbia University. "The technology is very good and very well used in this country, and probably will be used more and more."
Two pills are used to induce an abortion. The primary drug, Mifeprex, was first approved in the U.S. in 2000. Use has risen steadily, even though manufacturer Danco Laboratories LLC of New York hasn't promoted it and the drug can only be obtained at a clinic or doctor's office, not through a pharmacy. Sales rose 16.5 percent last year, when about 184,000 American women used Mifeprex.
Medical abortions now account for about a quarter of early abortions, according to company spokeswoman Abby Long. At Planned Parenthood, the biggest provider of medical abortions, they amount to 32 percent of early terminations.
The group's study analyzed medical abortions at Planned Parenthood centers between 2005 and mid-2008 - about 228,000 cases. It found the abortion pill was about 98.5 percent effective and that changes in how the drugs were given reduced risk of a serious infection from barely 1 in 1,000 cases to 0.06 in 1,000.
The results are reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
The procedure, which works during the first nine weeks of pregnancy, involves swallowing Mifeprex, known chemically as mifepristone, at a doctor's office. Originally known as RU-486, the pill causes an embryo to detach from the uterine wall. A second pill, misoprostol, is used 24 to 48 hours later to cause contractions and push the embryo out of the uterus.
These drugs are different from Plan B, which is taken within a couple days of contraceptive failure or unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy from occurring.
Originally, the procedure involved inserting the misoprostol pill into the vagina where the medicine was absorbed. But by the end of 2005, four American women and one Canadian had died of a rare bacterial infection afterward, spurring concern among providers and criticism by abortion opponents.
So in April 2006, Planned Parenthood told its 300 clinics offering the procedure to instead have patients put the misoprostol pill in their mouth and let it dissolve.
Some clinics also began providing a week's course of antibiotics to avoid infection; the others tested women and treated any with sexually transmitted diseases. In 2008, all the clinics started giving patients antibiotics.
"We decided we needed to make a safe procedure even safer," said the study's lead researcher, nurse practitioner Mary Fjerstad.
By the study's last six months, serious infections had declined to one-16th of the original rate.
"I think that providers are going to be pretty impressed with the data," said Dr. Beth Jordan, medical director of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, which plans to highlight the findings to doctors, nurse practitioners and pharmacists at its annual meeting in September.
Given that 87 percent of U.S. counties have no abortion provider, Jordan said the findings might encourage some primary care doctors to offer abortion using the pills.
"But I don't think it's going to open the floodgates," she said.
In October, the National Abortion Federation, representing 400 centers that provide more than half of abortions in the U.S. and Canada, will review the findings and decide whether to make changes accordingly. Federation President Vicki Saporta said current guidelines allow putting misoprostol in the cheek to dissolve, swallowing it, or inserting it in the vagina, which more than a third of her member clinics do.
Saporta said abortion opponents "have been misleading people into thinking that medical abortion is unsafe," but the study proves the procedure is safe. The cost is $400, only slightly less than the median cost for an early term surgical abortion.
Since approval in 2000, there have been six deaths from sepsis, a bloodstream infection, among the more than 1.1 million American women who have used Mifeprex, most recently one in July 2007. That's a death rate of less than 1 in 167,000, according to the maker, and less than 0.1 percent of patients have needed transfusions.
Misoprostol, which is officially approved in the U.S. for preventing stomach ulcers, is sold under the brand name Cytotec and made by Pfizer Inc.
Winikoff and Saporta both raised concerns about giving a full course of antibiotic treatment to all women to prevent very few infections - unlike the brief preventive dose given with surgical abortions. They said that could trigger a rare allergic reaction, add to the problem of antibiotic resistance and add to the cost of the procedure - making it unaffordable in developing countries.
Chris Gacek, a senior fellow at the anti-abortion Family Research Council, said he wasn't surprised by the increasing use of Mifeprex.
"I don't think at this point we're going to do anything" to try to limit its use, he said. "It's hard to know whether this increases the (total) number of abortions."
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On the Net: www.nejm.org
Mifeprex site: www.earlyoptionpill.com

So much to say, so little time!

Hi friends,

Sorry for the long delay in updating this here blog of ours! Lately I feel like I am three days behind at living my own life. Laundry is piling up, magazines are unread, and I can't seem to get enough sleep.


This video features Senator Tom Coburn at the confirmation hearings of Sonya Sotomayor, making a blatantly false statement about abortion in the US versus abortion in the rest of the world.



Follow this link to the actual facts about abortion in the US and elsewhere. The World's Abortion Laws, from The Center for Reproductive Rights


As if this were not enough, the confirmation hearings of Sonya Sotomayor were also interrupted by anti-choice protesters. It is sort of hard to make out what they are saying, but check out the video if you are interested.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

This is a video montage of disparaging sexist/racist comments/clips about Sotomayor compiled by The Women's Media Center. Some of these are so incredibly awful that I can't believe it. See what you think.




More from us soon, including information on the incredibly harmful proposed merger between Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket and the already financially unstable Caritas Christi HealthCare, a Massachusetts-based Catholic healthcare system that prefers to place religion above providing their patients with comprehensive healthcare choices. If this merger occurs, the effects on people of low-income status in Rhode Island will be widespread, as it is likely that Thundermist Health Center of Woonsocket will no longer be allowed to maintain contracts with Landmark for family planning and sterilization. Tubal ligation will no longer be an option for women choosing this hospital, even those patients who request one at the time of a C-section. Thundermist Health Center, a private non-profit community health center, is the second largest primary healthcare provider in Northern Rhode Island. This merger may also have an effect on STD/HIV testing availability, employee health insurance benefits, surgical referrals, etc.


As always, we are in need of volunteer clinic escorts at Women's Medical Center at 1725 Broad Street in Cranston, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 7:00 am - 10:30 am or so. Please get in touch (prochoiceri@gmail.com) if you have some free time or if you need to fulfill your community service requirements!

-Robin

Good news in Cranston, bad news in Arizona.

Thank you to our amazing clinic escorts who worked at Women's Medical Center over the weekend, especially the one who drove from NARRAGANSETT to help us out! Today, we witnessed something amazing: full support from the Cranston Police Department. We were able to have the over-sized signs removed (Cranston has a 3x3 sign ordinance, these were larger than five feet across), and it was made very clear to the protesters that their signs should no longer be attached to trees, telephone poles, or other public property. If you escort and and they are violating this ordinance, please call the Cranston police and inform clinic staff and the security guard that you are doing so.


Unfortunately, we have bad news to report in regards to reproductive choice in Arizona. On Tuesday, the Arizona Senate voted 16-12 to pass an anti-choice bill that would require a 24-hour waiting period (Arizona House Bill 2564) for women seeking to obtain an abortion. HB2564 would require physicians to inform patients, via state-scripted materials/pamphlets, of "all known risks and alternatives" to abortion. This bill would also allow pharmacists, doctors, and other medical professionals to refuse to participate in an abortion or dispense emergency contraception. Additionally, an amendment was made to a 2003 bill that required written parental consent for minors - a notarized statement of permission from the parents/guardians would be required if these were to pass. The other bill (Arizona House Bill 2400) would impose more serious penalties (two years in prison or a fine) for any physician practicing late-term abortion. These were both passed by the House in March 2009. As you may know, Arizona's Governor, Jan Brewer, is very anti-choice, and it is likely that she will sign these bills into law. Follow the link for even more horrible details.


A 24-hour waiting period requires a woman to make an additional trip to a clinic for a state-mandated counseling session, although clinics regularly provide women with counseling during their appointment anyway. An additional appointment caused by a 24-hour waiting period would be a financial burden to many women, as they may not be able to take another day off of work, obtain and pay for childcare, or make the appropriate travel arrangements. In states like Mississippi, where there is only one clinic left, this makes access to reproductive choice incredibly difficult. As clinics are busy, it will likely be difficult for them to accommodate all of these additional appointments and will cause women to either have to seek later abortions or lose the ability to make a choice altogether.

The 24-hour waiting period bill in RI (House Bill 5334, heard in front of Health Education and Welfare Committee) was "held for further study" again this year. The RI bill would have required the state to pay for paper materials and a website (which would be monitored DAILY!) to be bought or created, both listening abortion alternatives and risks, as well as whatever else they feel like including... This bill would have required clinics to distribute these materials to patients or be faced with serious penalties.

The idea that women need an additional appointment to receive a state-mandated lecture and then some time to "go home and think about it" before making a very personal decision is an insult. Bills such as this one are a direct attack on women who are of low-income status and those who are uninsured. If choice cannot be accessed, choice does not exist.

In case you missed it..

..here is our press releaser regarding the killing of Kansas physician George Tiller.

2to1: The Coalition to Preserve Choice is shocked and saddened by the May 31 murder of Kansas physician George Tiller, who was shot this morning as he attended church with his wife. We condemn this violent act, as it is contrary to everything in which we members of the pro-choice community believe.

The killing of Dr. Tiller is yet another example of just how far some opponents of abortion and reproductive rights will go to deny women their constitutional right to choose. 2to1 is sure that this violent action will serve to redouble and energize the commitment of pro-choice activists across the country to ensure that women will always have access to a safe and legal abortion. The freedom to choose is under attack, whether it comes in the form of harmful legislation that makes abortion access more difficult, clinic violence, or assault on abortion practitioners. Dr. Tiller's death must not be seen as a victory to the anti-choice community, as murder is not a legitimate or lawful way to promote a political agenda.

Dr. Tiller was a man who dedicated his life to providing quality reproductive health care to women, although he had been the victim of anti-choice threats and violence over the past two decades, including a clinic bombing and a previous shooting. We expect that the perpetrator will be convicted and that this outrageous act will be punished to the full extent of the law.

It is with great respect and sadness that we join the pro-choice community in remembering Dr. Tiller's life and his many contributions to women's reproductive health care. His death is a loss for women across America. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife, children and grandchildren, who long supported his courageous decision to keep his clinic doors open despite continued threats and vandalism.

At last!

2to1: The Coalition to Preserve Choice is moving up in the world! In addition to this shiny new blog, we also have a Facebook page. Please become a fan. I know, I know. We're a little late to the pro-choice party on the internet, but we're here. Tell your pals to become a follower on this blog.

As always, we are in need of volunteer clinic escorts at the Women's Medical Center in Cranston. Escort shifts are Weds/Fri/Sat from 7:00-10:00 or so. Volunteer clinic escorts assist patients and staff safely into the clinic and are a vital part of the choice community in RI. For more information, email me at prochoiceri@gmail.com.

If you were wondering what Richard Nixon thought about abortion..

On Nixon Tapes, Ambivalence Over Abortion, Not Watergate