The Myth of “Abortion Reversal”

The myth was first developed by an anti-abortion doctor who believed flooding the body with progesterone (a hormone your body makes naturally when you’re pregnant) could reverse the effects of mifepristone, the first medication used in a medical abortion that stops the growth of the pregnancy. But the effects of taking progesterone after taking mifepristone are largely unstudied, he used questionable research methods, and his experimental method was never published in a scientific journal— which means it isn’t proven to be effective. In fact, it’s actually suggested that due to the level of hemorrhaging experienced by participants in the abortion reversal study, it may not be safe to only take one of the medications.

Because most people who have abortions are people of color and low-income people, it echoes and is a disturbing reminder of America’s past where unethical research was performed on enslaved Black people, especially because it isn’t certain whether or not the study participants were informed that the research was experimental.

The entire theory behind “reversing an abortion” is based on the widespread idea that people don’t want to have, or will regret having, an abortion and that we simply don’t know what we want for ourselves. It’s quite patronizing. In reality, most people who have abortions are certain it’s the decision they want to make—more certain than most medical decisions. It also perpetuates the myth that regret is a common emotion after an abortion when it’s actually ‘relief’. Some people may regret their abortion, but the regret of an experience isn’t somehow special for abortion and it doesn’t mean that they believe it should be inaccessible or illegal for others who make the decision. Most people are confident it’s the right decision for them and what they need to do, even if the circumstances are complex. According to research, 95% of people do not regret their abortions. Of course, like any big decision about our bodies and lives, people have a variety of emotions and feelings. That’s very normal. But no matter what, the decision should be ours to make—and because some people do regret a decision doesn’t mean that it’s in any way unsafe, wrong, or should be banned. We must be trusted to make our own decisions and deserve medically accurate information, not to be subjects for racist anti-abortion experiments.