{"id":328595,"date":"2025-03-31T06:39:21","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T11:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=328595"},"modified":"2025-03-31T09:56:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T14:56:30","slug":"associated-press-report-alleged-safety-abortion-pill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/associated-press-report-alleged-safety-abortion-pill\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Associated Press report on alleged safety of abortion pill is less than reliable"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A recent Associated Press article<\/a> declared the abortion pill (mifepristone – 200mg) “safe,” despite the drug’s black box warning. Authors Laura Ungar and Matthew Perrone chose to cite heavily pro-abortion sources, failing to interview anyone with an opposing view. While the AP claims<\/a> to avoid conflicts of interest, the news conglomerate receives support from a foundation which also directly funds abortion.<\/p>\n

\"Associated

Associated Press claims to avoid conflicts of interest<\/p><\/div>\n

Live Action News previously documented<\/a> that the risks of mifepristone (200mg) triggered the FDA to place it under a safety system called REMS, where it has remained \u2014 even under multiple pro-abortion administrations. Under REMS, prescribers of the drug are supposed to have provisions to handle abortion pill failures or complications<\/em>. Instead of abiding by the regulations, which are policed by those who profit from the drug (Danco and GenBioPro), abortion providers simply instruct women to present to potentially overcrowded emergency rooms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Danco and the FDA always\u00a0understood<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0emergency rooms would be a necessary<\/a> element in place to treat abortion pill clients.<\/p>\n

Biased OB\/GYNs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The AP cited abortion activist Ushma Upadhyay (a recipient<\/a> of multiple awards from the National Abortion Federation) and Pratima Gupta (a practicing abortionist and board member<\/a> for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists – ACOG), while suggesting that all medical professionals support the abortion pill as “safe.”<\/p>\n

Yet, the Associated Press failed to interview a single pro-life expert with an opposing view.<\/p>\n

“OB-GYNs say a tiny fraction of patients suffer ‘major’ or ‘serious’ adverse events after taking mifepristone,” wrote the AP<\/a>. “Medical professionals call it ‘among the safest medications’ ever approved by the FDA. But a Christian conservative group that sued the FDA over the drug says it has caused ‘tens of thousands’ of ’emergency complications.’\u201d<\/p>\n

That “Christian conservative group” was actually made up of pro-life medical professionals<\/em> \u2014 something Associated Press chose to distort.<\/p>\n

OB\/GYNs who push abortion pills as “safe” frequently seem to either commit abortions, or have associations with the pro-abortion<\/a> American College of Obstructions and Gynecologists (ACOG). As Live Action News has documented, ACOG co-signs Big Abortion’s profit making ventures, willingly contorting<\/a> their own language to get behind<\/a> unapproved and experimental expansions<\/a> of chemical abortion.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press failed to mention concerns expressed by the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), a pro-life medical association, or speak to any of the thousands of plaintiff doctors who initially filed<\/a> the lawsuit challenging both the drug’s approval and expansions.<\/p>\n

Last year, however, the United States Supreme Court ruled<\/a>\u00a0that the plaintiff doctors in the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine (AHM) lawsuit\u00a0did not have standing to sue. <\/em>Since then, three states likely to have standing have chosen to intervene<\/a> and file a complaint<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mifepristone’s Black Box Warning \u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The AP reported:<\/p>\n

The prescribing information included in the packaging for mifepristone tablets lists slightly different statistics for what it calls ‘serious adverse reactions.’ It cites ranges for how frequently various complications occur: 0.03% to 0.5% for transfusion; 0.2% for sepsis and 0.04% to 0.6% for hospitalization related to medication abortions. The ranges reflect findings across various relevant studies, experts said.<\/em><\/p>\n

And by “experts,” they mean pro-abortion ones. Left out of the AP story is the fact that mifepristone\u2019s own 2023 label<\/a> contains a black box warning for sepsis, bleeding, and other life-threatening risks.<\/p>\n

“Mifepristone results in a completed abortion 97.4% of the time, according to U.S. studies cited in the FDA label. But in 2.6% of cases, a surgical intervention is needed. And 0.7% of the time, the pregnancy continues,” the AP claimed.<\/p>\n

This is no small number, as a nearly 3% failure rate would result in more than 19,000 women needing additional care \u2014 possibly even emergency care, since a failed abortion can result in infection which can lead to sepsis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Published percentages for ER visits on mifepristone\u2019s 2023 label<\/a> indicate that 2.9 to 4.6% of women who take abortion drugs end up in the emergency room, indicating<\/a>\u00a0that abortion pill ER visits could be in the\u00a0tens of thousands<\/em>\u00a0every year. In\u00a0addition<\/a>, the FDA\u2019s\u00a0medication guide<\/a>\u00a0acknowledges that as many as seven percent (7%) of women will need surgery after taking mifepristone \u201cto stop bleeding\u201d or to complete the abortion.<\/p>\n

These percentages, against the 642,000 annual abortion pill data from 2023, could result in 39,000 to 45,000<\/em> incidents each year.<\/p>\n

A previously<\/a>-documented\u00a0Gynuity Health Projects (GHP)<\/a> telabortion study also found that six percent (6%) of participants (70 out of 1,157) faced complications from the abortion pill, resulting in ER or urgent care visits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"Mifepristone

Mifepristone Jan 2023 label shows percentage of women taking abortion pill visit ER<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition, emergency department staff warned<\/a> that women are presenting to ERs with undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies<\/a> after taking abortion pills. Additionally, some state data indicated<\/a>\u00a0complications may be on the rise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Biased study and authors cited\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

“The definition that scientists generally use for serious adverse events includes blood transfusions, major surgery, hospital admissions and death, said Ushma Upadhyay, one of the authors of that\u00a02015 study,<\/a>” the AP claimed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Randall K. O\u2019Bannon, Ph.D. previously<\/a> disputed the study’s claim (read at Live Action News)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That study<\/a> from Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH<\/a>) was funded by “an anonymous foundation” which has in other studies been shown to be the Buffett Foundation<\/a>, one of the original investors in the abortion pill. Buffett is also a primary financier<\/a> of the Bixby Center\u2019s<\/a> Ryan Residency Program<\/a> at University of California San Francisco (UCSF), an abortionist training program<\/a>, and funds ACOG.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

ANSIRH was founded<\/a> by abortionist Felicia H. Stewart and is funded<\/a> by the Packard Foundation. Packard provided early financial assistance to the abortion pill\u2019s U.S. manufacturer, Danco.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The study\u2019s authors are tied to groups that promote, train, or commit abortions, including:<\/p>\n