mifepristone

Women who begin a chemically-induced abortion but then have second thoughts now have hope of saving their unborn children thanks to a new study showing a great success rate in reversing the early effects of abortafacients through hormone treatments, a discovery that could save some 30,000 babies per year.

The treatments also appear to add no additional risk of birth defects.

In the latest edition of the journal “Issues in Law and Medicine,” Dr. George Delgado and his six colleagues published a study entitled “A Case Series Detailing the
Successful Reversal of the Effects of Mifepristone Using Progesterone.”

Delgado teaches medicine at the University of California-San Diego and is also medical director at Culture of Life Family Services, a pro-life medical facility in southern California.  He says the success of this study is great news for women.

“It’s empowering to them.  It gives them a second choice and I think it really helps them to heal and to go forward in their lives in a really positive fashion,” said Delgado, in an interview following the publishing of the study.

The effort focuses on chemically-induced abortions.

“We’re talking about 300,000 cases a year.  In some percentage of these cases, we know that women have second thoughts and change their minds and may want a second chance at choice.  We know this because they call the hotline of their own volition because they’ve searched us out,” said Delgado.

And how many actually have second thoughts when beginning an abortion through abortafacients?

“I think a conservative estimate would be ten percent of women want to consider reversal.  I even base that on studies that are touted by abortion advocates,” said Delgado.

“They call it a very small number, which you might say ten percent is pretty small, who have second thoughts.  When you look at the number of medical abortions per year – 300,000 – ten percent of that is 30,000 women.  If 30,000 women a year would be interested in this treatment, I think we should do everything we can to educate them so they know that it is available,” said Delgado.

Delgado also stresses that ten percent is a conservative estimate and believes the number who reconsider chemical abortion is higher because “having an abortion fundamentally goes against the hard wiring of a woman, who is hard-wired to be nurturing and to protect her young, including her unborn,”said Delgado.

Delgado says his research led to very encouraging conclusions.

“This is very exciting.  This new article effectively proves that the use of progesterone to reverse the effects of mifepristone medical abortions is safe and it’s effective,” said Delgado.

He is equally excited that the progesterone infusion does not appear to increase the likelihood of birth defects.  His success rate was 64-68 percent of healthy live births, while the percentage of unborn babies who survive mifepristone is just 25 percent.

So what are progesterone and mifepristone and how does this reversal work?

“[Progesterone] is a hormone that is essential for the health of a pregnancy.  Without progesterone, every pregnancy would miscarry, so we know that progesterone is extremely important.  That’s why they started using mifepristone to cause medical abortions.  They discovered that mifepristone blocks the effects of progesterone by blocking the receptors where the progesterone needs to land in the cells in order to cause its effects.

“So what we’ve devised is a strategy, whereby we give supplemental progesterone so there is more progesterone in the system and it out-competes the mifepristone at the receptor sites until the mifepristone washes out of the system,” said Delgado.

Pro-choice experts argue that not enough research has been done to declare the work definitive.  Nonetheless, Delgado says those same skeptics gave confirmed important details, such as unborn babies only surviving 25 percent of the time if a chemical abortion is stopped after taking mifepristone.  They also confirm that infusion of progesterone is a logical strategy to counteract mifepristone.

Delgado is quick to point out that a chemically-induced abortion begins with mifepristone and is usuall followed up with doses of misoprostol, which expels the baby from the womb.  There is no counter to that at this time.

Delgado says the next step is to refine the treatment by comparing the modes and doses of progesterone to determine what is most effective.

Already he says the women who changed their minds after beginning a chemical abortion are powerful.

“Almost unanimously their comments are of great relief and great gratitude that they had this opportunity to reverse their medical abortions,” said Delgado.