{"id":30201,"date":"2016-08-31T14:57:24","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T18:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=30201"},"modified":"2016-08-31T14:57:24","modified_gmt":"2016-08-31T18:57:24","slug":"anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Choice Ohio Law Made Abortion Less Safe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

For years now, the anti-abortion movement has been passing restrictions on abortion\u00a0in the name of protecting women.\u00a0Last\u00a0week we have yet more evidence that this is a feint. But first, we need some background.\u00a0This past\u00a0March, the FDA revised its guidelines for using\u00a0mifepristone, the medical abortion pill. The Los Angeles Times editorial board explained\u00a0as follows<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The Food and Drug Administration was absolutely right to re-label mifepristone, a drug used to induce abortions, to reflect a regimen already adopted by doctors. The FDA \u2014 which hadn\u2019t changed its guidelines on the drug since it was approved for medication-induced abortions in 2000 \u2014 now calls for a substantially lower dose of the drug to be administered, and extends the time into pregnancy when it can be used. The agency also now suggests that misoprostol \u2014 a second drug used along with mifepristone to complete the abortion process \u2014 be taken a day or two later by the woman at home rather than in a doctor\u2019s office. The new guidelines also recommend that qualified healthcare providers, not just doctors, be allowed to dispense the drugs.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the way doctors have been using the drugs for years, saying that the process was safe and efficient and had fewer adverse effects than what the FDA had recommended on the old label. And it is easier for women. The advocacy arm of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists praised the FDA\u2019s change, noting that it aligned with \u201ccurrent available scientific evidence and best practices.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, the FDA made its recommendations for mifepristone dosage and usage in 2000, but later\u00a0evidence\u00a0led doctors to administer the drug slightly differently.\u00a0Abortion\u00a0opponents knew that\u00a0the way the doctors were administering mifepristone made it easier to obtain (extending the period during which it could be used and requiring fewer doctor visits). They urged states to pass laws requiring doctors to follow the FDA recommendations, and a number of states, including Ohio, did just that. Abortion opponents argued that this was about safety, but in practice it was about making abortions harder to obtain.<\/p>\n

Well guess what?\u00a0A study out of Ohio<\/a>, where a law requiring doctors to follow the FDA recommendations when administering mifepristone went into effect in 2011, found that\u00a0the statute made\u00a0abortion\u00a0less<\/em>\u00a0safe.<\/p>\n

Ohio law required use of a medication abortion protocol that is associated with a greater need for additional intervention, more visits, more side effects, and higher costs for women relative to the evidence-based protocol. There is no evidence that the change in law led to improved abortion outcomes. Indeed, our findings suggest the opposite.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here are some of the details:<\/p>\n

\u2026the law change was associated with a 9.4% absolute increase in the rate of requiring an additional intervention.\u00a0\u2026\u00a0The percentage of women requiring two or more follow-up visits increased from 4.2% in the prelaw period to 6.2% in the postlaw period.\u00a0\u2026\u00a0Overall, 12.6% of women reported at least one side effect during their medication abortion: 8.4% in the prelaw period and 15.6% in the postlaw period. \u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It turns out that\u00a0the way\u00a0doctors\u00a0were administering the drug was indeed safer than the\u00a0regimen\u00a0the FDA recommended.\u00a0Surprise, surprise. The upside is that now that the FDA has changed its recommendations to reflect the way doctors have been administering the drug for years, Ohio doctors no longer have to follow the out-of-date FDA recommendations.\u00a0The study itself\u00a0makes this point as follows:<\/p>\n

In March 2016, the FDA-protocol was updated, so Ohio providers may now legally provide current evidence-based protocols. However, this law is still in place and bans physicians from using mifepristone based on any new developments in clinical research as best practices continue to be updated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because it\u2019s not about best practices or women\u2019s safety. It\u2019s about\u00a0taking\u00a0any\u00a0steps necessary to prevent\u00a0women from accessing reproductive healthcare.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In other words, the FDA made its recommendations for mifepristone dosage and usage in 2000, but later evidence led doctors to administer the drug slightly differently. Abortion opponents knew that the way the doctors were administering mifepristone made it easier to obtain (extending the period during which it could be used and requiring fewer doctor visits). They urged states to pass laws requiring doctors to follow the FDA recommendations, and a number of states, including Ohio, did just that. <\/p>\n

Click through to read more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":30204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[104],"class_list":["post-30201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-abortion-2"],"yoast_head":"\nAnti-Choice Ohio Law Made Abortion Less Safe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In other words, the FDA made its recommendations for mifepristone dosage and usage in 2000, but later evidence led doctors to administer the drug slightly differently. Abortion opponents knew that the way the doctors were administering mifepristone made it easier to obtain (extending the period during which it could be used and requiring fewer doctor visits). They urged states to pass laws requiring doctors to follow the FDA recommendations, and a number of states, including Ohio, did just that. Click through to read more!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Anti-Choice Ohio Law Made Abortion Less Safe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In other words, the FDA made its recommendations for mifepristone dosage and usage in 2000, but later evidence led doctors to administer the drug slightly differently. Abortion opponents knew that the way the doctors were administering mifepristone made it easier to obtain (extending the period during which it could be used and requiring fewer doctor visits). They urged states to pass laws requiring doctors to follow the FDA recommendations, and a number of states, including Ohio, did just that. Click through to read more!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love, Joy, Feminism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-31T18:57:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2016\/08\/women-697928_1920.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html\",\"name\":\"Anti-Choice Ohio Law Made Abortion Less Safe\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-31T18:57:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-31T18:57:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\"},\"description\":\"In other words, the FDA made its recommendations for mifepristone dosage and usage in 2000, but later evidence led doctors to administer the drug slightly differently. Abortion opponents knew that the way the doctors were administering mifepristone made it easier to obtain (extending the period during which it could be used and requiring fewer doctor visits). They urged states to pass laws requiring doctors to follow the FDA recommendations, and a number of states, including Ohio, did just that. Click through to read more!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Anti-Choice Ohio Law Made Abortion Less Safe\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/\",\"name\":\"Love, Joy, Feminism\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\",\"name\":\"Libby Anne\",\"description\":\"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \\\"purity culture,\\\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Anti-Choice Ohio Law Made Abortion Less Safe","description":"In other words, the FDA made its recommendations for mifepristone dosage and usage in 2000, but later evidence led doctors to administer the drug slightly differently. Abortion opponents knew that the way the doctors were administering mifepristone made it easier to obtain (extending the period during which it could be used and requiring fewer doctor visits). They urged states to pass laws requiring doctors to follow the FDA recommendations, and a number of states, including Ohio, did just that. Click through to read more!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Anti-Choice Ohio Law Made Abortion Less Safe","og_description":"In other words, the FDA made its recommendations for mifepristone dosage and usage in 2000, but later evidence led doctors to administer the drug slightly differently. Abortion opponents knew that the way the doctors were administering mifepristone made it easier to obtain (extending the period during which it could be used and requiring fewer doctor visits). They urged states to pass laws requiring doctors to follow the FDA recommendations, and a number of states, including Ohio, did just that. Click through to read more!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html","og_site_name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","article_published_time":"2016-08-31T18:57:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":460,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2016\/08\/women-697928_1920.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Libby Anne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Libby Anne","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html","name":"Anti-Choice Ohio Law Made Abortion Less Safe","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-08-31T18:57:24+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-31T18:57:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2"},"description":"In other words, the FDA made its recommendations for mifepristone dosage and usage in 2000, but later evidence led doctors to administer the drug slightly differently. Abortion opponents knew that the way the doctors were administering mifepristone made it easier to obtain (extending the period during which it could be used and requiring fewer doctor visits). They urged states to pass laws requiring doctors to follow the FDA recommendations, and a number of states, including Ohio, did just that. Click through to read more!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2016\/08\/anti-choice-ohio-law-made-abortion-less-safe.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Anti-Choice Ohio Law Made Abortion Less Safe"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/","name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2","name":"Libby Anne","description":"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \"purity culture,\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.","sameAs":["http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}