More and more women are terminating their pregnancies on their own, a new study suggests. Some resort to unsafe methods

A growing number of women say they have tried to end their pregnancies on their own by doing things like taking herbs, drinking alcohol or even hitting themselves in the stomach, a new study suggests.

Researchers surveyed women of reproductive age in the US before and after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. The percentage who reported trying to terminate a pregnancy on their own increased from 2.4% to 3.3%.

“Many people take matters into their own hands,” says Dr. Grace Ferguson, a Pittsburgh gynecologist and abortion provider who was not involved in the study, which was published in the journal on Tuesday. JAMA network opened.

Authors of the study acknowledged that the increase is small. But the data suggests it could be hundreds of thousands of women.

Researchers surveyed about 7,000 women six months before the Supreme Court ruling, and then another group of 7,100 a year after the ruling. They asked whether the participants had ever done or done anything themselves to end a pregnancy. Those who said yes were asked follow-up questions about their experiences.

“Our data show that making abortion more accessible does not mean people are less likely to want or need an abortion,” said Lauren Ralph, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and one of the study’s authors.

Women cited a variety of reasons for handling their own abortions, including wanting an extra degree of privacy, being concerned about the costs of clinical procedures, and preferring to try to end their pregnancy themselves first .

They reported using different methods. Some were taking medications, including emergency contraception and the abortion pills misoprostol and mifepristone, obtained outside the medical system and without a prescription. Others drank alcohol or used drugs. Some resorted to potentially harmful physical methods, such as hitting themselves in the stomach, lifting heavy things, or sticking objects into their bodies.

Some respondents said they suffered complications such as bleeding and pain and had to seek medical attention afterwards. Some said they later had an abortion at a clinic. Some said their pregnancies ended after their attempts or due to a subsequent miscarriage, while others said they continued their pregnancies when the method didn’t work.

Ralph pointed out some caveats and limitations to the study. Respondents may underreport their abortions, she said, because researchers ask them questions about “sensitive and potentially criminalized behavior.”

She also warned that some women may have understood the question differently after the Dobbs decision, such as believing that getting an abortion through telehealth is outside the formal health care system when that is not the case. But Ralph said that before each survey, she and her colleagues tested how people interpreted the question.

The bottom line, Ferguson said, is that the study’s findings “confirm the statement we’ve said all along: If you make it difficult to get (an abortion) in a formal setting, people will just do it informally.”

The research was funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and a third foundation listed as anonymous.

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