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8.24.24 Voter Empowerment Alert
August 26, 2024
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Deep Dive Articles
Publication Date: June 04, 2019
By: Sarah Christopherson
The National Women’s Health Network (NWHN) has been working hard to demystify medication abortion for the public and push back against medically unnecessary restrictions imposed by states and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
We want everyone to know that medication abortion (abortion induced by taking FDA-approved pills) is physiologically indistinguishable from a miscarriage that occurs on its own. While everyone will feel differently about their experience, there is no right or wrong way to feel. The physical process, symptoms, risks, warning signs, complications, and treatments are the same. Additionally, abortion pills are often used to help treat incomplete miscarriages.
Knowledge is power, and knowing that medication abortion and spontaneous miscarriage are the same physical process is key to correctly placing medication abortion in the context of normal human reproduction. It also allows women to seek medical care as needed without revealing to medical staff whether their miscarriage was induced or spontaneous. It makes clear that attempts to criminalize abortion will also criminalize miscarriage, forcing women to prove that they didn’t do anything to ‘endanger’ their pregnancies.
To better understand the difference between miscarriage and abortion, miscarriage must be demystified.
Earlier this winter, CNN Business ran an article titled, “Miscarriages are common. But at work, a culture of silence keeps women quiet.” In the piece, a woman recalls: “[W]hat’s so crazy is through having my miscarriage, I found out how many people I knew had miscarriages. And I’m like, ‘I wish you would have told me.'”
CNN identified fear of discrimination in the workplace as one reason women may be reluctant to speak openly about their pregnancies, highlighting research that shows women pay a “motherhood” penalty in lost income and status as soon as they’re seen being on the “mommy track.” But the anti-abortion movement has also played a key role, aggressively working to confuse women about the science of miscarriage and to punish them when one occurs.
Fake women’s health clinics (sometimes referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers” or “pregnancy resource centers”) have been known to significantly exaggerate the likelihood of miscarriage to dissuade pregnant people from seeking desired abortions.
Anti-choice individuals have also used a combination of decades-old laws and radical new “personhood” measures to criminalize miscarriage and charge women for “endangering” their pregnancies. In overturning one woman’s manslaughter conviction, the New York Court of Appeals cautioned in 2015 that, under the prosecutors’ approach, “one could find it ‘reckless’ for a pregnant woman to disregard her obstetrician’s specific orders concerning bed rest; take prescription and/or illicit drugs; shovel a walkway; engage in a contact sport; carry groceries; or disregard dietary restrictions.”
The stigma surrounding miscarriage leads women to blame themselves for the situation and question what they could have done differently. Health historian Shannon Withycombe stated in an interview with The Cut that “[o]nce you miscarry, especially if you haven’t heard the statistics about how common it is, it’s easy to think it’s your fault, or that you did something wrong.” This misunderstanding only encourages more women to stay silent about their miscarriage experiences.
To combat incorrect and confusing information and to encourage women to talk more openly about their experiences, we created a FACT SHEET explaining medication abortion and miscarriage, outlining what to expect and what to watch out for.
Updated August 2024 by Rachel Grimsley, RN, BSN, MSN
Sarah Christopherson, MA, is the Legislative Director for the social justice campaign, Americans for Tax Fairness, and the NWHN’s former Policy Advocacy Director. Her 10 years working for Congress and her deep knowledge of health policy and consumer protection make her the NWHN’s issue area expert on federal health reform implementation and defense, drug and device safety and efficacy, and sexual and reproductive health.
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