Sami Alloy was “ecstatic” when she found out she was pregnant in 2018, after four years of trying to have a baby with her partner.

But after an early scan at six weeks, her IVF medical team told her there was “no developing fetus” and she would need to deal with a miscarriage.

“Because I was struggling to get pregnant and manage my fertility, they didn’t want to perform a procedural abortion [removing tissue, performed by a trained provider] Because they didn’t want to risk scratching my uterus,” said the 42-year-old woman from Oregon I. “It’s possible that my body was expelling the tissue on its own, but it’s also possible that I developed an infection or the uterus wasn’t able to separate all the tissue, which could lead to sepsis, loss of fertility, or death.”

Instead, her team prescribed mifepristone and misoprostol, a drug known asabortion pill” or a “medical abortion”, thereby ending the pregnancy. Mifepristone blocks progesterone in the body, preventing the pregnancy from developing, while misoprostol causes cramping and bleeding that empties the uterus. The prescription drug was approved in the United States until Ten weeks pregnant.

While Ms Aloy described her experience as a managed miscarriage, the process was “exactly the same” as if someone had deliberately used medication to terminate a pregnancy.

After the medical abortion, Ms. Aloi quickly became pregnant again and gave birth later this year, which she attributes partly to the mifepristone she took.

More than 5 million U.S. women use mifepristone to terminate pregnancy, and by 2023, 63 each Half of all abortions in the United States are for medical reasons. According to the latest statistics, 86% of abortions in the UK between January and June 2022 were for medical reasons.This method has been proven by numerous studies to be a safe Ways to end early pregnancy.

When Chris Smith of Seattle found out she was pregnant in 2020, she didn’t believe it was “meant to be.”

Life feels less stable. She and her two daughters had just had to move out of a rental property. Finances are tight, families don’t have reliable health or dental care, and the world is in the middle of a pandemic.

“There are a lot of unknowns,” the 43-year-old said. I. “terrible.”

When she was about eight weeks pregnant, Ms. Smith chose medication to terminate her pregnancy.

As a volunteer abortion doula, she had access to mifepristone and misoprostol and was able to perform abortions at home without having to take time off work.

“I’m so grateful that I’m lucky enough to be in a situation where I don’t have to think twice about doing something,” she said.

Mifepristone use could soon be severely restricted. Late last month, the U.S. Supreme Court Consider the fate of drugs This is the first abortion case since the overturn Roe v. Wade About two years ago.

The Hippocratic Medical Alliance is an umbrella organization of anti-abortion doctors and activists, debate The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDS) did not adequately study the safety risks of mifepristone before approving its sale in 2000, claiming that doctors must treat patients with complications from the drug.

The FDA and drugmaker Danco said the challengers were not harmed by the prescribing rules and that the agency followed correct procedures and scientific evidence in making its decision.

If the court rules against the FDA, thousands of people’s access to abortion could be affected, as it would roll back expansion of abortion access since then 2016when the FDA relaxed restrictions on the use of mifepristone.

“This case is unprecedented,” said Carrie Baker, a professor of women’s and gender studies at Smith College. “It’s outrageous. It’s factually incorrect, it’s legally incorrect, and it’s The only reason this is happening is because these anti-democratic forces are manipulating our entire system to serve a Christian nationalist agenda that is hostile to sex, women, and abortion.”

she told I Sixteen percent of abortions in the U.S. are now scheduled via telemedicine, a “significant increase” and the highest risk.

Number of people getting abortion pills via telemedicine surges 2021when the FDA lifted the in-person provision requirement, allowing health care providers and online pharmacies to mail mifepristone to patients.

If the Supreme Court restricts reproductive freedoms, organizations calling for reproductive freedoms expect to have a huge impact.

Ryan MacDonald of Pro-Choice said: “This ban scares me the most because limiting access to this drug will harm patients, especially patients of color, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, rural and low-income patients, and patients who travel great distances for treatment,” Washington told I. “We actively work to pass laws that reduce barriers to care, and this ban will certainly make things more challenging.”

Ms Smith said a ban would be “terrifying” for people in her position.

While Ms. Aloi was able to get a medical abortion through the clinic and Ms. Smith was able to get one through her job, they both worried about the impact the case would have on people who can’t get to a clinic and rely on telemedicine.

“You should be able to get these medications because they are basic health care,” Ms. Aloi said. “I’m very angry that the right to medical abortion is being contested.”

Aloi said that without mifepristone, people might be forced to choose procedural abortions, which could affect future fertility or risk infection by allowing tissue to slough off naturally.

She has heard of people being convicted for elective medical abortions and worries that convictions will increase as the use of mifepristone becomes more restricted.

“We’re looking at these incredibly high risks,” she said. “The anti-abortion movement will stop at nothing to criminalize the outcome of people’s pregnancies, deny us basic human rights, and continue to enforce these test cases and policies until there is a total ban on abortion across the country. It’s alarming.”

Professor Baker says America’s “underground abortion pill network” will not back down.

“The network is very strong and growing,” she concluded. More than 26,000 people have received abortion services through the network since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, she said. “This is going to continue. No matter what the courts do, it won’t have any impact.”

Professor Baker believes the case will be dismissed when it comes to trial in June, but said anti-abortion groups “will not give up”.

“They will continue to try to exploit the courts, the executive branch and the legislative branch,” she said. “It’s like throwing spaghetti against the wall. They’ll throw things and hope something sticks, even if it’s ridiculous.”