WTF is 'Abortion Pill Reversal'?

7.21.26

THE QUICK & DIRTY:

This Is How We Should Celebrate America’s 250th: with a bold Congressional resolution on reproductive justice

In the Nation: SCOTUS says they’re under attack, ICE and domestic violence, and a new ‘defund’ effort

Ballot Box: Maine’s new Sen. candidate reckons with anti-abortion past, Texas Senate candidates aren’t running on abortion, and where Kansas gubernatorial hopefuls stand

In the States: Kansas pharmacists are forced to post a sign about abortion ‘reversal’, Iowa’s maternal health crisis, and why Texas women fear for their lives

Abortions Don’t Need to Be Provided By Doctors: a new study reminds us that nurse practitioners and physician assistants can safely provide medication abortions

AED Joins We Can Do Hard Things: Listen to Jessica chat about democracy, power, and freedom with Amanda Doyle

You Love to See It: Lizz Winstead says it plain: “The Abortion Pill Has Never Abused Women. Men Do”

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This Is How We Should Celebrate America’s 250th

July 4th marked the United States’ 250th birthday. And while the White House opted to celebrate the occasion with an almost self-parodying carnival, three Congressmembers observed the occasion the right way: with the America 250 Reproductive Justice Resolution. Introduced by Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Lateefah Simon, and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, the resolution recognizes reproductive freedom as a human right and supports policies like universal health care (including maternal health care!), paid family leave, accurate sex ed, and safety from pregnancy criminalization.

“While Republicans are spending the 250th anniversary attacking our fundamental freedoms, we have to name what the future can and should look like for women and families, Simon said, crediting SisterSong’s 1990s reproductive justice framework for inspiring the resolution.

Obviously, I love everything in the resolution—but I especially appreciated its repeated calls for “the full decriminalization of pregnancy outcomes,” and “freedom from coercion, forced sterilization, and the criminalization of pregnancy.” The policing of pregnant and postpartum women has sharply escalated since Dobbs, and not enough lawmakers are taking this festering crisis seriously.

You can read the full text of the resolution here. This is exactly the sort of proactive, visionary agenda-setting that we need more of from Democrats.

In the Nation

Since the end of Roe, maternal mortality and morbidity rates have soared—and only a handful of ban-related deaths have been reported. It’s impossible to know how many pregnant patients have died, been pushed to the brink of death, or experienced long-term health impairments as a result of being denied timely emergency abortions. We have the Supreme Court to thank for this horrific violence against women. Instead of acknowledging this, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett would like us all to recognize her and her fellow justices as the real victims.

Last week, Barrett and liberal Justice Elena Kagan testified before Congress about fears for their safety since Dobbs, with Barrett claiming that she and her young children are forced to wear bulletproof vests. Kagan told Congress that Supreme Court justices are sorely lacking in security, and “still looking for 100, 150 more officers.” She described the year she joined the court, 2010, as “an entirely different world” from this one.

We can all agree that no one should be threatening Barrett or her children. That’s not controversial. We should all be able to agree, too, that child rape victims should be safe from forced birth. That pregnant women who experience complications have as much a right to safety as Barrett. That we should all be safe from violence—not just Supreme Court justices.

SCOTUS Blog notes that this was the first appearance before Congress by Supreme Court justices in seven years, and the tone-deafness of it all was almost astounding. It’s hard to listen to Barrett, a staunch anti-abortion extremist, express concerns for her safety without remembering that death threats to abortion providers doubled last year.

Also on Capitol Hill: the anti-abortion movement is as determined as ever to defund Planned Parenthood. Earlier this month, a one-year ban on Medicaid reimbursements for abortion providers expired because Congressional Republicans neglected to renew the defund provision. Last week, top anti-abortion groups rallied on Capitol Hill, with Students for Life calling on the GOP “to use their authority in bills, amendments, and their own advocacy to finish what they started.”

At a press conference, Sen. Josh Hawley railed against his own colleagues:

“This Congress should have acted long ago. There is no excuse—none—for Planned Parenthood to be receiving taxpayer money to be carrying out the mutilation of our children, to be carrying out the murder of the innocent unborn.”

House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington told The Hill that the omission of a defund provision from this year’s budget reconciliation bill was solely due to time constraints: “The clock was our greatest threat to the broader opportunities.”

Over the last year, the defunding of Planned Parenthood led to the closure of nearly two dozen health centers—in some cases, in communities with virtually no other health provider. That decimated health care infrastructure can’t be fixed overnight; it’s left a lasting impact. Yet conservatives are already champing at the bit to inflict this devastation all over again.

Meanwhile, yet another person—Maine resident Durán Guerrero—was killed by an ICE agent. The agent, David Brouillette, reportedly has an extensive history of domestic violence, including one incident in which he allegedly threw boiling water at his then-wife, Ashley Brouillette. Ashley told NPR that at one point her ex-husband threatened “to blow my brains all over the bathtub.” She also shared a voicemail from Brouillette in which he told Ashley that she and all her female family members should have their throats cut.

All of this is horrific and, sadly, unsurprising. Among law enforcement officers, domestic violence is all too common: in one survey, 40% of police officers self-reported acting violently toward their spouses or children. Sexual abuse, often inflicted on children, is rampant across the immigrant detainment system. And under the Trump administration—as ICE officers often wear plain clothes, masks, and sometimes don’t identify themselves—there have been several reported cases of civilian men posing as ICE to sexually assault women.

This is all happening because rogue behavior and alleged gender-based violence by ICE has become so normalized.

The Associated Press notes that at least 10 people have been killed in encounters with ICE since Trump took office last year.

Ballot Box: Maine, Texas & Kansas

A lot has been happening in the U.S. Senate race in Maine, so let’s get into it. As you know, Graham Platner—the now-former Democratic nominee in the race—reluctantly dropped out after facing a rape allegation from an ex-partner. As of this weekend, state Senate President Troy Jackson secured enough delegates to become the new Democratic nominee.

Abortion, Every Day reported on Jackson’s mixed record on reproductive rights during his unsuccessful gubernatorial run: in the early 2010s, Jackson held a 100% rating from Maine Right to Life. But in the last decade, he’s helped repeal abortion restrictions and expand access in the legislature, and received enthusiastic support from Planned Parenthood.

Certainly, elected officials can grow and change, and Jackson seems to have done so. So, a word of advice to him in his race to unseat Sen. Susan Collins? He should absolutely run on support for reproductive freedom.

Not only are abortion rights popular in the state, but as The 19th reported, the issue is already defining the race. In the absence of a nominee, the Maine Democratic Party opted to keep momentum alive by hitting Collins on her record on abortion—she was, memorably, a deciding vote to confirm alleged sexual abuser Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, helping cement the majority that would end Roe.

As Reproductive Freedom for All’s Mini Timmaraju said:

“Especially in a state like Maine, they cannot take women voters seriously enough. And right now, sort of a basic contract with women voters in the state has been violated.”

Predictably, abortion is shaping up to be a critical issue in a number of races—including the U.S. Senate race in Texas, between Democrat James Talarico and the state’s anti-abortion attorney general, Ken Paxton. Paxton is a regular fixture in AED, and never for anything good: he’s spent his entire tenure harassing abortion funds, providers, and midwives, attempting to criminalize abortion care.

The Texas Tribune reports that neither Talarico’s campaign nor Paxton’s is running that heavily on the issue. But the outlet did speak to several of the Texas women who sued the state over its abortion ban, who say they’ve spoken with Talarico and support his campaign. Paxton’s extremism absolutely should be a focal point of this race, which could position him as one of the most aggressively anti-abortion senators in the nation.

Meanwhile, local news station KCTV surveyed 10 gubernatorial candidates in Kansas on their positions on abortion. Their answers ranged from “we lost 19,811 babies in 2024” to “I don’t support abortion on demand, but I do support reasonable exceptions.” (That “19,811 babies” line came from former county commissioner Charlotte O’Hara, who said at a recent debate abortion is “morally bankrupt,” and voiced her support for “life from conception.”) Republican Phil Sarnecki had the audacity to invoke his wife’s ‘pro-life’ position as aligned with his own, ostensibly to mask his misogyny as a man trying to block women’s access to health care:

“Well, Heidi—my wife—and I are very strongly pro-life. … Having a culture of life in the state of Kansas is really critical. And that’s what I’ll do as governor, and Heidi would do as First Lady as well.”

And Republican Ty Masterson said:

“I think abortion is an 80-20 issue in many areas, right? When you do your surveys, 80 percent don’t want late-term abortions, 80 percent want fewer abortions, 80 percent don’t want taxpayer-funded abortions. … they want more adoption options.”

I don’t even know where to begin in fact-checking him. First, over 80% of voters don’t want any state intervention in pregnancy—without making distinctions about gestation. ‘Adoption options’ are also far from an alternative to abortion by any stretch of the imagination—people who seek abortion care don’t want to be pregnant, period.

Meanwhile, Democrat Ethan Corson, who holds a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood in the state Senate, hit the nail on the head, pointing to the decisive defeat of an anti-abortion ballot measure in 2022:

“I think that it is wrong that Republicans… want to continue to attack reproductive rights when Kansans have made it so clear what their view is on this issue.”

Listen to AED on We Can Do Hard Things

Jessica joined We Can Do Hard Things for a conversation about healthcare, democracy, power, and freedom. Take a listen below:

In the States: Iowa, Texas, Kansas

Iowa health care workers are raising alarms about the state’s sharply worsening maternal health crisis. Iowa has the lowest rate of OBGYNs per capita in the nation, and its six-week abortion ban has only worsened this. Per The Gazette, more than 40 obstetrics units have closed in the state since 2000, while three have closed so far this year.

At a Planned Parenthood-hosted roundtable, one health advocate warned that “we don’t have enough doctors.” A doula and founder of Project Motherhood Iowa says her group has been hearing from more and more mothers and families because “they lack the support or don’t know where to find the support.”

“I see a lot more families are—like it was stated—going out of state to find that care, or some families have even moved to get better care than what’s here in Iowa. And that’s unfortunate.”

Unfortunately, this isn’t unique to Iowa. Idaho, another ban state, has lost nearly a third of its OBGYNs. Medical students and residents are actively avoiding ban states, some of which threaten to criminalize them for providing standard pregnancy care.

It’s not just providers who are afraid. Courier Texas has a new feature on Texas women who fear their pregnancies could cost their lives. One Houston-based OBGYN recounted:

“One pregnant patient who was miscarrying looked at me and begged, ‘I don’t want to die, please don’t let me die.’ I reassured her, but she was absolutely terrified. She had miscarried too early in her pregnancy for her fetus to survive… I wasn’t legally allowed to perform an abortion because her fetus still had a heartbeat.”

OBGYN Dr. Damla Karsan has heard similar fears from her patients:

“Every day patients tell me that they are afraid to get pregnant in Texas. They say that they’d love to have another baby or ‘I’d love to start my family, but I just don’t know in the current climate if that’s wise.”

Instead of addressing any of this, Texas is pouring tens of millions into anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers—fake clinics that exist to surveil, lie, and dissuade prospective abortion seekers. Houston Chronicle now reports that many of these CPCs are now shilling so-called “abortion pill reversal,” an unsafe and unproven process through which anti-abortion activists claim that a medication abortion that’s underway can be “reversed.”

Texas CPCs told the outlet that they’re seeing an influx of requests for APR: Heartbeat International claims that 1,700 abortion reversals were attempted in 2021, and that the figure surged to 2,400 in 2025. The CPC network also insists it has trained over 1,500 doctors to perform reversals.

To be clear, anti-abortion groups are hardly a reliable source of data on… anything. But if requests for abortion pill reversals are surging, we should be horrified by how widely anti-abortion groups are spreading dangerous disinformation—including by passing legislation that requires doctors and clinics to tell patients about APR. (California is currently suing CPCs for misleading pregnant people about ‘reversal’ options, with a trial that launched just last month.)

On a related note, the Kansas Board of Pharmacy just sent an ominous newsletter reminding institutions that provide abortion pills that they must post a sign that misleadingly claims the medication is unsafe and can be “reversed.” That’s thanks to a law Republicans passed in 2025.

At the same time, the conservative legal powerhouse Thomas More Society, just launched “a comprehensive online hub” on APR. The webpage includes unverified testimonials from anti-abortion activists who claim they were able to become mothers because of APR—along with “legal resources” to support CPCs that provide ‘reversals’.

All to say: this issue isn’t going away. If you’re looking for the facts, ACOG provides this fact sheet on abortion ‘reversal’, while groups like Reproaction have meticulously been tracking this anti-abortion propaganda campaign for years now.

✨ Abortions Don’t Need to Be Provided By Doctors ✨

An unsurprising but important new study has found nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants/associates (PAs) are just as capable of providing medication abortions as physicians.

University of California San Diego researchers found a 92.9% effectiveness rate of mifepristone/misoprostol medication abortions dispensed by advance practice clinicians, compared to a 90.1% effectiveness rate when dispensed by physicians. Across the board, emergency room visits (0.2%) and adverse events (0.1%) were rare, whether the medication abortion was dispensed by advance practice clinicians or physicians.

Why does this matter? Over half of states (26) enforce laws that restrict NPs and PAs from prescribing medication abortion. These laws push the (false!) idea that medication abortion is complicated or unsafe, and are a pretext to further restrict care. In reality, all the time, people are able to safely self-manage their own abortions, or access the medication from non-physicians.

You Love to See It

We can’t recommend this new Rolling Stone piece enough: “The Abortion Pill Has Never Abused Women. Men Do.” Abortion Access Front’s Lizz Winstead is right: medication abortion has never ‘abused’ women—it’s men and lawmakers who coerce pregnant people.

AED first reported in 2023 that the anti-abortion movement’s new strategy would be to frame all abortions (especially medication abortions) as ‘coerced’ and ‘abusive.’ Since, the movement has gone all-in on this lie, weaponizing select stories while ignoring that abortion bans are coercion, and that bans have only further empowered abusers.

As Lizz writes:

“Mifepristone did not abuse these women. Men did. We know the far-right understands this concept because its members often eagerly explain that an inanimate object cannot be held responsible for the person misusing it. Every time someone says, ‘Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.’ … But place abortion medication in a violent man’s hand, and suddenly the pill is the sole culprit? That selective logic would almost be funny if men being accused of drugging women weren’t in the news every day.”