#Abortion pills usa

[reasonsforhope]

THANK FUCKING GOD

"The Supreme Court on Thursday [June 13, 2024] unanimously preserved access to a medication that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. last year, in the court’s first abortion decision since conservative justices overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.

The nine justices ruled that abortion opponents lacked the legal right to sue over the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the medication, mifepristone, and the FDA’s subsequent actions to ease access to it. The case had threatened to restrict access to mifepristone across the country, including in states where abortion remains legal.

Abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy in 14 states, and after about six weeks of pregnancy in three others, often before women realize they’re pregnant.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was part of the majority to overturn Roe, wrote for the court on Thursday that “federal courts are the wrong forum for addressing the plaintiffs’ concerns about FDA’s actions.”

The opinion underscored the stakes of the 2024 election and the possibility that an FDA commissioner appointed by Republican Donald Trump, if he wins the White House, could consider tightening access to mifepristone, including prohibiting sending it through the mail...

Kavanaugh’s opinion managed to unite a court deeply divided over abortion and many other divisive social issues by employing a minimalist approach that focused solely on the technical legal issue of standing and reached no judgment about the FDA’s actions...

While praising the decision, President Joe Biden signaled Democrats will continue to campaign heavily on abortion ahead of the November elections. “It does not change the fact that the right for a woman to get the treatment she needs is imperiled if not impossible in many states,” Biden said in a statement...

About two-thirds of U.S. adults oppose banning the use of mifepristone, or medication abortion, nationwide, according to a KFF poll conducted in February. About one-third would support a nationwide ban...

More than 6 million people [in the U.S.] have used mifepristone since 2000. Mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone and primes the uterus to respond to the contraction-causing effect of a second drug, misoprostol. The two-drug regimen has been used to end a pregnancy through 10 weeks gestation...

Biden’s administration and drug manufacturers had warned that siding with abortion opponents in this case could [have] undermined the FDA’s drug approval process beyond the abortion context by inviting judges to second-guess the agency’s scientific judgments. The Democratic administration and New York-based Danco Laboratories, which makes mifepristone, argued that the drug is among the safest the FDA has ever approved."

-via AP, June 13, 2024

--

Note: A massive relief and a genuine victory - this will preserve access to the medication used in 2/3rds of abortions last year, for at least another 2 years. (Probably minimum time it will take Republicans to get their next attempt before the Supreme Court.)

Still, with this, a sword that has been hanging over our heads for the last two years is gone. There will be a new one soon, but we just bought ourselves probably at least 2 years. The fight isn't over, but this is absolutely worth celebrating.

[radykalny-feminizm]

I'm just going to leave it here

[nando161mando]

[tomorrowusa]

Republicans won't stop at abortion. They want to be overseers of all reproduction. They won't be happy unless they are able to monitor every bedroom and doctor's office in the US.

We recently saw how the Republican Alabama Supreme Court ruled against IVF. That ruling was peppered with copious references to Christian fundamentalist beliefs.

Now Republicans are turning attention to birth control. The unhinged MAGA crank Charlie Kirk ranted about this recently.

Charlie Kirk, the head of the MAGA propaganda behemoth Turning Point USA, recently unveiled a novel theory as to why young women tend to vote for Democrats. Unwilling to admit that women can think for themselves, Kirk floated the theory that birth control pills cause brain damage. "Birth control like really screws up female brains," he falsely claimed before a crowd at a recent church event streamed on the far-right site Rumble. Claiming the pill "increases depression, anxiety [and] suicidal ideation," he then blamed women's voting patterns on hormonal contraception. "It creates very angry and bitter young ladies and young women," Kirk argued.

I would argue that Trump and his followers are the ones with screwed up brains. There is a strong tendency of misogynistic patriarchy in the GOP. They feel a need to control women – possibly because of their own feelings of sexual inadequacy.

But of course, Kirk is not sincerely mistaken and he certainly isn't concerned about the wellbeing of women, which all reputable research shows is dramatically improved by having control over their fertility. Kirk's doctor cosplay is part of a much larger and semi-coordinated strategy among right-wing leaders to demonize birth control and train the GOP base into believing that restricting, or even banning, contraception is justified.  As the Washington Post reported last month, right-wing activists have been flooding social media with the same lies that Kirk was echoing in this video. It's a well-financed disinformation campaign, getting a major boost from MAGA billionaire Peter Thiel, who has aggressively financed teams of messengers to falsely claim that hormonal birth control "tricked our bodies into dysfunction and pain." Doctors report that the tidal wave of misinformation about birth control is creating a health care crisis, including women who "come in for abortions after believing what they see on social media about the dangers of hormonal birth control." 

Female empowerment is anathema to many on the far right. And the right to control one's body is part of that empowerment.

At heart, Republicans are anti-freedom.

Of course, the real reason MAGA leaders don't like birth control is they oppose the freedom and opportunities that it has afforded women. Kirk barely bothers to hide that this is his real agenda. In the very same talk, he also tries to threaten women who hold out for Mr. Right instead of settling for Mr. Incel: "In their early 30's they get really upset because they say the boys don't want to date me anymore because they're not at their prime," he claims, echoing the unevidenced revenge fantasy that dominates misogynist message boards. 

Roe v. Wade had been the law of the land for over 49 years until the Trump-Bush Supreme Court rescinded it in 2022.

Birth control medications have been around since 1960. Despite that 64 year precedent, don't think that Republicans won't try to find some way to ban them if given a chance.

[2minfastfacts]

Watch "Abortion Pill Under Fire: Supreme Court's Action #shorts" on YouTube

[crazyalien87]

god i hate this country (usa) sometimes what the fuck

god I am legit scared. a judge in texas just struck down the fda's approval of mifepristone (one of the 2 main abortion pills) for THE WHOLE COUNTRY. what the fuck. what the fuck. what the fuuuuccckk. i am scared & also super pissed. one worthless fuckwad just removed rights from like half of the entire fucking COUNTRY!!! millions of people!!!! istg i would m*rder that bastard right now if i fucking could. istg & these fucking msn comments. some of these bastard be like "yes we be saving kids yay!" or "why u want to kill children?" oh my god go fuck yourself!!! it is not kids!! first ten weeks of pregnancy only!!! 2.5 months! i am a human!! i have body autonomy!! I dont have to house that mf in my body if i dont fuckign want to i dont care!! if u cant even force me to donate blood, how u can force this?!?! fuck u!!!! i own my body, no one else does. it's not like i want to kill a fucking embryo but like i dont wanna be pregnant either! capisce?? like obviously i rather just not get fucking pregnant! these bastard act like i got pregnant for fun for the purpose of killing a baby? what in the fuck? is that what their twisted fucking minds go to??? I would use birth control or just not have sex like that. abortion is the backup, the last resort. what the fuck. it is not fun it is healthcare. taking control of my life. fuck u.

[killed-by-choice]

Amber Thurman, 28 (USA 2022)

Amber with her beloved son

Georgia’s Pro-Life laws have reduced abortion and protected women. Amber Thurman, who died because of a legal abortion from out of state, is the only person in Georgia for years of records to die from septic shock from “retained products of conception.”

Amber, a healthy 28-year-old single mother, learned she was pregnant with twins in 2022. Scared for her stability and feeling unable to provide for them while attending nursing school, she and her friend Ricaria Baker scheduled a legal surgical abortion in North Carolina.

After leaving her son with a babysitter and making the long drive to another state, Amber and Ricaria were delayed by heavy traffic. They contacted the abortion facility only to find out that the facility had crammed in so many clients that they wouldn’t let her have more than a 15-minute delay or they would cancel her appointment. However, a facility worker gave Amber a “counseling session” and sold her the abortion pills. Tired from the journey and frustrated at the idea of making the long trip for a second time, Amber agreed. She took the first pill at the abortion facility on August 13. She was nine weeks pregnant.

Ricaria later told media that Amber wanted to get home before the abortion symptoms started. The two of them went home and Amber took the final dose.

Amber would soon learn that chemical abortion was not as safe or convenient as the facility claimed. She was in intense pain and bleeding much more heavily than she was led to expect. Her boyfriend called 911 after she vomited blood and lost consciousness.

At 6:51 P.M. on August 18, Amber was brought to Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge, Georgia. Her condition mirrored that of others killed by “safe and legal” use of the abortion pill. A pelvic exam and ultrasound indicated that the legal abortion left tissue inside of her, where it decayed and caused sepsis. Her blood pressure was dangerously low from bleeding, her white blood cell count was elevated, and while attempting to use the bathroom she fainted again and hit her head.

After assessing Amber’s condition, doctors started her on an IV drip and antibiotics to combat the sepsis, The OB-GYN who was caring for Amber noted the possibility of doing a D&C the next day. However, her condition badly deteriorated. By 5:14 the next morning, she was having trouble breathing and her blood pressure was still dangerous even after five liters of fluids. Realizing that Amber was even sicker than previously thought, her doctors continued to gather information and increased her antibiotics. They also tested for STDs that could potentially complicate treatment and for pneumonia, which can easily develop in patients with sepsis.

With her blood pressure so low, Amber’s doctors tried to save her by giving her Levophed. This was a powerful blood pressure support medication given because she desperately needed her blood pressure to be stabilized. But even with Levophed, Amber’s blood pressure kept falling. She was admitted to the ICU at 6:45 A.M.

By 7:15, doctors discussed a D&C. However, because of her critical condition and because of how the Levophed affected blood flow, surgery was very risky for Amber. Still, after a specialist in intensive care examined her, it was decided that the risk had to be taken.

In the OR, it was discovered that the sepsis was causing her organs to fail. Amber’s bowel needed to be removed, but because of how her blood flow was affected, it was too dangerous to do so. A surgeon carried out the D&C as planned, but the infection was so bad that Amber also had to have a hysterectomy. Despite the hospital’s efforts, Amber went into cardiac arrest during her surgery. A maternal mortality review noted that her death was preventable.

Once Amber’s case became publicly known, some pro-abortion sources tried to claim that the Georgia abortion ban was what actually killed her. They claimed that Georgia law had criminalized D&C so absolutely that doctors were limited in what they could do to save her life.

This is not true.

First, Amber’s twins were already dead. A procedure to remove a dead baby’s remains or other retained tissue is not medically or legally qualified as an abortion.

Second, the legal text of Georgia’s abortion ban clearly states that even if a treatment could be considered an abortion (which, again, does not apply to removing the remains of a corpse), it is unambiguously legal if needed to preserve the life or health of the mother. The text of the law allows doctors, not politicians, to have the final say in what qualifies. Legally, Amber’s doctors were allowed to give her a D&C at any time— which they did. The claims that the abortion ban forced the doctors to delay the D&C or criminalized it are unfounded. Even ProPublica themselves admitted that “Doctors and a nurse involved in Thurman’s care declined to explain their thinking and did not respond to questions from ProPublica.” In other words, they were only guessing what they thought might have been the motivation.

Amber’s D&C was also performed on the day it was planned. There was no refusal to treat her, and in fact even the article that attempts to paint her as a “victim” of abortion bans admits that surgery was dangerous at that point because of the blood pressure medication— the medication given because her legal abortion made her lose so much blood. Surgery may be delayed for extremely fragile patients, and seeing that multiple experts were being brought in to analyze her case and help the best they could, it is extremely likely that she did not receive surgery sooner because they thought it was more likely to kill than save her. This is especially relevant in a patient with respiratory distress, organ failure and extremely low blood pressure— surgery on someone with highly impacted blood flow poses risks of its own.

Lastly, there is no denying that Amber died from a legal abortion. She was not a criminal— she underwent something she was told was “safe and legal” and still died. The blame for her death rests on the abortion facility that packed in as many women as they could and then risked their lives.

It is also worth noting that in a case like this of abortion pill-induced sepsis, treatment can fail even when everything can be attempted. Given that she was already in severe sepsis when admitted to the hospital, even an immediate D&C (had she been stable enough for one) may have been too late. A similar case, the death of “Jayden Roe,” records an immediate D&C being done on a patient who was much less sick and still died.

But even if, hypothetically, Amber’s doctors delayed an aspect of her treatment needlessly, that would be their fault individually as practitioners, not the fault of a law that clearly allows them to use their own judgement and decide for themselves.

Although Amber was afraid of financial instability, she loved being a mother and frequently posted about how much she loved being with her young son— a son who lost his mother and two siblings to “safe and legal” abortion.

Since becoming publicly known, Amber’s death has been exploited by abortion supporters. All of the social media posts claiming that abortion bans killed her miss a very crucial fact: she died of complications of a fully legal abortion.

[welcome-to-green-hills]

To all of the lovelies that are concerned about having access to contraceptives in the USA, please know that Plan B has a shelf life of a few years when stored properly (Plan B Fact Sheet, 2024). The same can be said for Julie Plan B.

These are not abortion pills. These morning-after pills delay the ovulation process, which means the menstrual cycle starts quicker and prevents the fertilization of the egg. Take when needed and store safely. All of these can be bought online and/or Target and CVS.

[jraker4]

For those who are still under the misapprehension that voting for a third party would serve the goal of dragging the USA further left, politically. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few leftists who peek in on this, and I would genuinely enjoy them coming at me with their ‘um, actually, both parties are functionally the same and it’s a good thing to make another Republican presidency more likely, somehow’, because stories like this make me mad enough venting that temper would be a pleasure.

But seriously. Whatever one’s other (often extremely valid!) issues with the Democratic Party in the USA, whatever complaints you might have about how centrist they are, how warmongering they are supposed to be, how supposedly pro-genocide they are…even on all of those issues, even if the heart of the complaints was true, Republicans are just as much all of those things when they ain’t worse, such as Trump wanting to help Netanyahu ‘finish the job’ in Gaza, among other things.

And then there are issues such as reproductive rights, wherein all but the most unhinged can’t pretend the parties are the same. If having access to safe, legal, affordable abortions is at all important to you, there’s only one choice in November. Plenty of choices in the primary months, but only one in November.

[zestylemonsz]

I am not very political. And I don't make political posts. However.

(I made the text smaller, however I am using caps)

Tag mutuals that can vote and are in the USA!!

-------------------------------------------------------

GUYS PLEASSSSEEEEE VOTE

NOT VOTING DOESN'T HELP. NOT LIKING THE SYSTEM AND NOT VOTING DOESN'T HELP.

IT SERIOUSLY DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU DON'T LIKE EITHER PRESIDENT. CHOOSE THE BETTER ONE. CHOOSE THE ONE THAT ACTUALLY HELPS THE LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY. CHOOSE THE ONE THAT IS FIGHTING AGAINST RACISM, AND FIGHTING AGAINST INCREASING HOUSING PRICES.

DON'T CHOOSE THE ONE THAT HAS COMMITTED SEVERAL CRIMES.

PROJECT 2025 WILL INCREASE FUNDING FOR THE US-MEXICO BORDER. IT WILL ALSO INCREASE FEES ON IMMIGRANTS.

PROJECT 2025 WILL TRY TO "STOP THE WAR ON OIL AND NATURAL GAS". THIS WILL ELIMINATE ALL MEASURES DONE FOR CLIMATE CRISIS.

PROJECT 2025 PLANS ON WITHDRAWING ABORTION PILLS.

PROJECT 2025 PLANS ON GETTING RID OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. IT DOESN'T WANT TO BE CONTROLLED BY EXPERTS. PROJECT 2025 WANTS TO BE CONTROLLED BY THE PRESIDENT.

PROJECT 2025 PLANS ON BANNING WHATEVER THEY WANT BY DOING THIS. SUCH AS: LGBTQIA+ BOOKS, USAGE OF THE WORD "TRANS" OR "GENDER" OR "LGBTQIA+".

PROJECT 2025 PLANS ON ELIMINATING A LIST OF TERMS FROM ALL LAWS AND FEDERAL REGULATIONS. THIS INCLUDES: SEXUAL ORIENTATION, DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION, GENDER EQUALITY, ABORTION, AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.

^ THIS WOULD NOT PROTECT LGBTQIA+ PEOPLE. THIS WOULD ALSO NOT PROTECT PEOPLE FROM ABORTION AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.

^ THIS MEANS PEOPLE WILL BE ABLE TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST THIS.

TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, TWO JUSTICES IN THE SUPREME COURT ARE RUMORED ON RETIRING IF TRUMP WINS.

THIS WILL MAKE TRUMP APPOINT TWO MORE JUSTICES.

THAT MAKES TRUMP RUN THE WHOLE SUPREME COURT.

DO NOT LET PROJECT 2025 WIN.

PROJECT 2025 PLANS ON DISMANTLING NOAA. NOAA TRACKS HURRICANES AND PROTECTS MARINE LIFE.

^ PROJECT 2025 PLANS ON DOING THIS BECAUSE IT'S "one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry"

PROJECT 2025 PLANS ON INSTALLING A "pro-life task force" TO REPLACE BIDEN'S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE.

PROJECT 2025 PLANS ON DEFUNDING THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, DISMANTLING THE FBI, AND ELIMINATING THE DEPARTMENTS OF EDUCATION AND COMMERCE.

THIS HAS BEEN LAID OUT IN PLAIN VIEW. PLEASE VOTE.

MORE POLICES INCLUDE:

ERADICATING FEDERAL FUNDING FOR DEI PROGRAMS.

PURGING THE GOVERNMENT OF APOLITICAL CIVIL SERVANTS.

ELIMINATING THE CHECKS AND BALANCES BUILT INTO THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT IN FAVOR OF EXPANDED CONTROL BY THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH.

ENDING REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM AND REPLACING THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.

REPLACING THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WITH A 100,000 WORKER IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT.

MILITARIZATION OF THE BORDER.

ENDING REFUGEE PROGRAMS.

REMOVING TRANSGENDER MEDICINES AND SURGERIES.

REMOVING LGBTQIA+ AS A WHOLE.

REMOVING ABORTION SERVICES.

[enemymine2000]

For the women and people with a uterus of the USA: You need to make your plan now. Obviously you need to think about getting your birth control sorted right now. Even if you plan to never have sex, because we know why we always would choose the bear. Birth control pills, implants, IUD, tubal ligation, whatever, just make sure it's in your control, because men can not be trusted with it. Stock up on Plan B now, it apparently has a shelf life of about 4 years. Personally I think it doesn't matter which shelf that is, no matter what your government after January might think about it. Check out PlanC.org for at home abortion information and access to medication per mail, as long as that is possible. Delete all digital traces of your period. Apps (first delete the data within before deleting the app itself), texts, posts, anything from which someone could make a guess as to the status of your uterus. Don't tell doctors either. There normally is no reason for a doctor to know the exact timing of your cycle. Just tell them that you have your period and that it's regular/irregular, but never exact dates. Do so, even if you're in a blue state or plan to move there. You never know how long those protections might last.

Don't get pregnant. Even if you want to have children. 1 in every 3 pregnancies end in a miscarriage. Which is a spontaneous abortion. You might get prosecuted for something sad, but natural. Additionally you might not receive care for other conditions while pregnant, because doctors have real concerns of being prosecuted themselves if that might lead to pregnancy loss.

If your significant other voted for Trump, leave him. Now. Especially if you're married. No matter how much you love him, no matter how much you think you can change him, he does not care about you. Because if he cared about women at all outside of a warm body to sink his dick in and to clean his house, he would not have voted for someone who is a rapist, who will try to strip you of all of your rights. No fault divorce might be the first thing of those to go. In that vein, save as much money as possible that only you can access. Financial dependence is the reason most of our grandmothers were unable to leave, don't make the same mistake.

If you're single, stay that way. Don't date. Don't have casual hook-ups. Men will lie and tell you they were voting for Harris, to get what they want. They have already started on the well-known apps. Cut them out. 4B movement all the way.

But that not only means those men. That also means your father, mother, sister, brother, friend, colleague, etc. who voted against your interests. Let them reap what they sowed. You don't owe them. But of course your safety is paramount.

Get something for your personal protection. I would rather you not buying a gun, because in doubt it would be more trouble than help. But mace, knives, self-defense courses are better than nothing. A roll of coins in a sock, whatever you feel comfortable with.

Get your documents sorted and ready to go. Have a passport.

For every step Trump's government will take, make a plan in advance. How to get your money, how to leave your home/the town when it gets dangerous, who you trust with information, with your power of attorney. Find groups and organizations to find and build community with. Heck, even unionizing at work might give you an edge. Get a VPN, which is from a country that is not part of the "14 eyes". Use Signal to communicate. As mothers and/or as birthing parent you need to educate the children in all those things the MAGAs want to erase from the public conscience. Ideas of equality for all, of feminism, of anti-fascism, even just readings of the bible as it is, are dangerous to their christo-fascist ideology and thus to their power base. To that end, get those books as soon as possible. So far it's only MAGA cleaning out public libraries, but you'll never know. Facts are their worst enemy. Raise your sons right! Because something has been really fucked with that for way too long.

Hopefully it won't all come down to the worst, but better be prepared and not need it, than the other way around.

[avaisbored]

trump is good for americans

ok so dont judge me by the title, please give me a chance to explain myself.

even though online many AND I MEAN MANY people support kamala harris, unfortunately, she did not win. trump rises again and boy, oh boy, does he have a plan for usa.

starting off with climate, he plans or rather the infamous "Project 2025" plans on removing the weather information for the people and making it a "paid" monthly subscription to prove that climate change is not real. if this is what the americans are supporting, so be it.

moving onto education, a long list of terms are going to be "eliminated" as apparently the school takes aim at what is called the "woke propaganda". some of the words include: abortion, sexual orientation, reproductive rights and the cherry-on-top, gender equality. {edit- he also claims the democrats to be a "woke" party so do what you want with knowing that information}

and last is abortion. although he hasnt claimed to outright "ban" abortion, the pill consumption time has been reduced from 7 to 5 weeks? some women dont even know that they are pregnant at that point? and he is doing so to save the child? what about the mother whose life is literally on the line? what about the 10,000 consequences that the mothers need to face not only physically, mentally but also financially?

all in all, usa has been doomed, god actually bless america and there is no one else to be "blamed" other than americans themselves.

{addition- elon musk donated $75 million dollars to fund the trump campaign and since his net worth has surpassed $300 billion dollars. but of course he did it for the people, right? a white billionaire obviously cares about the middle class and lower class people and he would surely never do anything like this for his own good, right?}

[nando161mando]

JEEZUS PHUCKING CHRIST

[ohtobeleah]

Def not a happy USAmerican and I’ve been listening to Master of War by Bob Dylan, the entire Born in the USA album and Thunder Road by Springsteen on repeat if that tells you anything about the current state of things. It’s a mess

I’m very open to talking about whatever anyone wants to talk about. So if anyone has anything they’d like to chat about!

I had to stop in at Coles (grocery store) after work and that stupid fucking YMCA song was playing 🤡☠️🤡

I have a lot of friends in the U.S. and I’ve been speaking with a few of them throughout the day and it’s really confronting trying to process what this decision will bring. It’s a hard pill to swallow for me personally that he also one the popular vote.

But the mood here is also very heavy. We currently had two states, Queensland and South Australia, that are currently looking to overhaul their current Abortion laws. Both states have premiers that have been following the U.S. policies heavily since Roe V Wade.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Elizabeth Weise at USA Today:

There's a battle being waged across the country between people who see birth control as essential for women's health, self-determination and to avoid abortions ‒ and those who claim some forms of contraception cause abortions and should not be funded by taxpayers. Birth control remains legal in all 50 states and can be purchased over the counter with no age limit. But lawmakers in at least seven states have attempted to cut off funding or scuttle bills that ensure access to some popular forms of birth control. Major medical groups and 10 health researchers interviewed by USA TODAY say there is no evidence that any of the popular forms of birth control end human lives. And some groups that oppose abortion still support the wide availability of birth control to help prevent unwanted pregnancies.

[...]

The conservative concern about contraceptives

The anti-contraceptive push is being led by groups that say birth control methods such as IUDs and “the morning-after pill,” which includes popular brands such as Plan B and ella, cause abortions and should not be funded by taxpayer money. A group called Students for Life goes further, calling birth control pills, IUDs, birth control implants and emergency contraception all abortifacients, saying only condoms, diaphragms, vaginal sponges, spermicide and “natural family planning” (i.e., the rhythm method) are acceptable forms of birth control.

[...]

But even for those who believe fertilization, not implantation, is the beginning of life, doctors say opposition to contraception is based on a misunderstanding of how it works. Birth control methods do not threaten human life, they say, because in almost every case egg and sperm never meet, so fertilization cannot happen. “Contraception by definition is prevention of pregnancy, not the interruption of pregnancy,” Emma Chew Murphy, a doctor at the University of California, San Francisco Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences. “Birth control does not cause abortion.”

Misinformation is keeping women from using birth control

The public debate over birth control has consequences, data shows. Especially in the 13 states that have total abortion bans, many women think they no longer can access some forms of birth control. “A survey in 2023 found that almost half of women in full-ban states believe Plan B is illegal in their states,” said Dima Qato, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Southern California who studies access to emergency contraception. There’s also significant misinformation about emergency contraception circulating online, falsely claiming it is dangerous to women or that it causes abortions, Qato said. For young women, who are more likely to use the morning-after pill, the misinformation can keep them from accessing it.

[...]

IUDs can also work as emergency contraception

IUDs can also be used as a type of emergency contraception if they are inserted within five days of unprotected sex. However, a pregnancy test is done beforehand to ensure a pregnancy has not already been established. Using IUDs this way is still relatively rare but highly effective, with a failure rate of only 1 in 1,000, said Dr. Mitchell Creinin, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, Davis. The IUD could also affect contractions in the fallopian tubes that move the egg down toward the uterus and the cilia that waft the sperm up toward the egg, said Dr. David Turok, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Utah who studies the use of IUDs as emergency contraception. Using IUDs as emergency contraception is still very rare. In a tiny number of instances, it is possible that a fertilized egg could be created, said Turok.

[...]

How emergency contraception (the morning-after pill) works

Sometimes called “the morning-after pill,” emergency contraception is sold as Plan B or ella, among other brands. It is a single pill containing hormones that delay or prevent the release of an egg from the ovaries. It is not the same thing as the abortion pill. If a woman is already pregnant, emergency contraception will not stop or harm the pregnancy, according to the U.S. Office of Women’s Health. Americans United for Life, a group opposed to abortion, believes that in some cases the morning-after pill might destroy an egg that has been fertilized. Carolyn McDonnell, litigation counsel at the group, noted that the FDA information for Plan B states that "it may inhibit implantation." Because of that, the group opposes the method. "We defend the conscience rights of health care professionals who are concerned about the potential abortion-inducing effects of emergency contraceptives in a minority of cases," McDonnell said.

This USA Today article calling out anti-birth control misinformation is a gem.

[genderqueerpositivity]

The arrest this week of a South Carolina woman accused of self-administering an abortion pill to end a pregnancy in 2021 prompted outrage among advocates who decried the criminalization of self-managed abortions.

According to a police report, a 33-year-old woman in Greeneville was taken to the hospital in October 2021 due to labor contractions. Police said she told staff she had taken the pill to terminate the pregnancy.

In light of this news, I'm passing along this reminder:

(image description: an image from the Instagram account @palmettostateabortionfund. There is white text inside a yellow box over a background of blue and yellow pills. Text reads: "Remember, you do NOT have to disclose what medication you have taken, if any, if you are seeking treatment for miscarriage symptoms.")

This is especially important if you live in South Carolina or Nevada, where self-managed abortion is criminalized.

I'm adding a link to the Repro Legal Helpline below:

The Repro Legal Helpline is a free, confidential helpline where you can get legal information or advice about the abortion laws in your state, including self-managed abortion, young people's access to abortion or judicial bypass, and referrals to local resources. If you have been arrested, questioned by the police, or charged with a crime for your abortion, we may also be able to help you by finding you a lawyer in your state, or working with your lawyer to help with your defense.

And finally, for my locals, tread carefully when seeking any form of reproductive or pregnancy related health care from the St. Francis Hospital system; they are Catholic affiliated. Very recently I met someone who was, several years ago, refused a tubal ligation after giving birth at one of these hospitals. Be careful.