Arizona governor Doug Ducey signed a law late on Monday that requires doctors in the state to tell women having a medical abortion that the procedure is reversible, advice regarded by most doctors as wrong and misleading.
The legislation also bans insurers from covering abortions under plans sold through the federal health exchange created by the Affordable Care Act. Arizona became the 15th state to pass restrictions on abortion coverage specifically for plans sold through the federal exchange.
Arizona’s law was unusual, however, for a twist in its so-called “informed consent” provision, which requires doctors to give medical advice to women that a preponderance of physicians and accredited health organizations say is unfounded.
“Claims of medication abortion reversal are not supported by the body of scientific evidence,” according to a fact sheet issued by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in response to the Arizona legislation.
Women having medical abortions typically take two drugs over the course of a few days. The first drug, mifepristone, ends pregnancies in 50%-70% of cases, according to the ACOG.
An anti-abortion doctor in San Diego has said the procedure can be reversed if the hormone progesterone is administered after the mifepristone. The doctor, George Delgado, has published a paper in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy reporting that “four of six women who took mifepristone were able to carry their pregnancies to term after receiving intramuscular progesterone 200mg.” Delgado maintains a website, abortionpillreversal.com, which advises “It may not be too late!”
It’s quackery, according to medical advisory groups.
“There are no reliable research studies to prove that any treatment reverses the effects of mifepristone,” ACOG said. “Available research seems to indicate that in the rare situation where a woman takes mifepristone and then changes her mind, doing nothing and waiting to see what happens is just as effective as intervening with a course of progesterone.”
The Arizona law requires doctors to tell patients that “it may be possible to reverse the effects of a medication abortion if the woman changes her mind, but that time is of the essence.” Doctors must then refer the patient to the health department website for further information on “reversing the effects of a medication abortion”.
A state anti-abortion group that was a primary mover behind the legislation tweeted a picture of Ducey signing the law.
Gov @dougducey has signed #SB1318! It ensures women are told about the Abortion Pill Reversal & protects taxpayers. pic.twitter.com/OBdWzZciKx
— CenterforAZPolicy (@azpolicy) March 30, 2015
“The American people overwhelmingly oppose taxpayer funding of abortions, and it’s no different in Arizona, where we have long-standing policy against subsidizing them with public dollars,” Ducey said in a statement.
Almost 204,200 Arizona residents enrolled in private health insurance through healthcare.gov during the most recent open enrollment period, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Patients are going to receive bad information, and we’re really concerned about that,” Jodi Liggett, the public policy director of Planned Parenthood Arizona, told the Guardian. “It’s not going too far to say our doctors are horrified by this.
“Women in their most vulnerable moment are going potentially to be given information that has no science to back it up.”
Liggett said the group was weighing its legal options to fight the law. “It’s early days,” she said.
