Research from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) showed that abortion bans in some states led to fewer women getting the recommended medical treatment for miscarriages.
During the study, published in JAMA, researchers at OHSU noticed that doctors were using less medication treatment and more "expectant management," which means waiting for the miscarriage to happen naturally without medical treatment.
The study looked at medical records of more than 123,000 people who had miscarriages in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy between 2018 and 2024. The results showed that in states with abortion bans, more women were told to wait for the miscarriage to happen naturally, whereas fewer women received medication treatment.
"Patients are having to wait longer to receive treatment, and when they arrive, they have fewer choices. These are very real and dangerous clinical implications for the hundreds of thousands of women experiencing miscarriages annually," said Maria Rodriguez, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the OHSU School of Medicine and director of the OHSU Center for Women's Health.
Also, the researchers found that women who did get medicine were more likely to receive only misoprostol instead of the more effective combination of mifepristone and misoprostol, which indicates that some women had to continue carrying pregnancies that could not survive, which may have increased health risks, affected fertility, and made emotional suffering last longer. The study also found that legal restrictions and fear of criminal charges may make some doctors hesitant to provide miscarriage treatment, even in places where abortion is still legal.
Researchers noted that it is important for patients to have different treatment choices. Some women want the miscarriage process to end quickly with medicine or surgery, while others prefer to wait naturally. They stressed that every patient should be treated with respect and allowed to choose the care that is best for them. They further warned that protecting access to miscarriage medications like mifepristone will be very important in the future.
"Going through miscarriage is a uniquely terrible experience. What women want in those situations is choices, and respect for those choices." Rodriguez emphasized.
"If we don't fight to preserve what's left of our reproductive health infrastructure, we'll continue to see these consequences over time. Women's health across the country is at stake - we can't take our foot off the gas."
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