National Right to Life has released a new report, Missed, Misclassified, and Minimized: Why Abortion Pill Complications Are Underreported, by Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., National Right to Life Director of Education and Research. The study last year found that more than 1 in 10 women who took the abortion pill experienced serious complications such as hemorrhaging, infection, failed abortions, and surgical follow-up.
“The abortion pill is being sold as safe, but independent data tell another story,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “Women are being harmed, and the dangers are being ignored or hidden.”
O’Bannon found several factors contributing to the discrepancies. Abortion providers often encourage women to conceal negative side effects and tell doctors they are symptoms of a miscarriage. O’Bannon also observed what he called a “contemptible lack of curiosity in the media” toward stories of women hurt by abortion drugs. Finally, serious complications are often categorized as “minor,” O’Bannon found.
Since its approval, the FDA has documented at least 36 deaths and thousands of complications linked to the abortion pill. With weaker federal reporting requirements in place since 2016, National Right to Life warns that the real toll is likely far higher.
You can read the full report from National Right to Life here or a detailed article from Catholic News Agency here.