A report published by the Ethics and Public Policy Center this spring included what anti-abortion leaders say is an earth-shattering finding: Nearly 11% of women experienced sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging or “another serious adverse event” within 45 days of having an abortion using mifepristone.
The report is not peer reviewed, and its dataset is not available, making it impossible to replicate the study or assess the methodology. It also runs contrary to established science: More than 100 scientific studies and leading medical organizations have concluded the drug is safe and effective.
But in the months since it was published, the report has spread across Washington. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and other anti-abortion groups have seized upon the report to pressure the Trump administration and Congress to further restrictions on abortions. Frontline Policy Action, The Heritage Foundation and the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNs all signed onto a letter to Trump administration officials calling mifepristone “unacceptably dangerous” and pointing to the report as “growing evidence of mifepristone’s harm.”