The best time to counsel a woman about abortion is long before she becomes pregnant. Not when she’s in the process.
But on Friday, Kansas lawmakers passed legislation that requires physicians tell patients that abortion induced by medication can be reversed, even though it’s been proven as ineffective as well as dangerous to the mother’s health.
Legislators also ruled that medical providers could face both criminal and civil penalties if they do not adhere to the new law.
Which puts providers in a pickle.
Do they follow the science or the law?
The new law refers to a new term called abortion pill reversal.
The theory is that women in the first 10 weeks of their pregnancy and who have begun medication-induced abortion can reverse the process by taking large doses of progesterone.
Abortion by medication is a two-dose process. The first pill is mifepristone, which halts the pregnancy by inhibiting the growth hormone progesterone. The second pill, misoprostol, is taken 48 to 72 hours later to complete the process.
In Kansas, two-thirds of abortions are administered this way.
Republicans contend mifepristone is not always effective in ending a pregnancy and that progesterone could reverse the process if administered before the second drug is given.
Health officials warn this is dangerous to the mother’s health.
Republican lawmakers disagree.
Let’s start with those licensed to advise.
According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, studies show that prescribing high doses of progesterone to reverse an abortion are ineffective and risky.
In the most recent medical trial in 2019, the study was halted because several of the women administered progesterone experienced severe hemorrhaging.
