This could drive the anti-choicers stark raving mad.
"We won't go back to the days of coat hangers and knitting needles. Rich women will fly to California; poor women will use Cytotec." --Dr. Jerry Edwards, an abortion provider in Little Rock, Ark.
Who knew? With Cytotec, a.k.a. misoprostol, an abortion will cost you less than $2.00, and no need to risk life and limb walking into the clinic. According to a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southern California, misoprostol is effective 80 - 90% of the time.
[T]he federal Food and Drug Administration approved for treatment of ulcers in 1988, but which has been used in millions of self-administered abortions worldwide. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, freeing states to ban abortion, this common prescription drug, often known by the brand name Cytotec, could emerge as a cheap, relatively safe alternative to the practices that proliferated before Roe.
In 2000, researchers at three obstetrics and gynecology clinics in New York noted that low-income immigrant women were already using misoprostol as an alternative to going to an abortion clinic, because it was easier and less expensive.
In Brazil, where abortion is banned except in rare circumstances, misoprostol is the method of choice for up to 90 percent of all abortions, said Alessandra Chacham, a professor of sociology at the University of the State of Minas Gerais, who studies reproductive health in Brazil. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, she said, pregnant women started to spread the word, because the drug's label warned that it could cause miscarriages.
But researchers at the University of Rio de Janeiro reported that they also found that among babies born with certain birth defects, a high percentage of the mothers used misoprostol. When the government in response restricted access to misoprostol, drug smugglers created an illegal black market, Ms. Chacham said.
Dr. Creinin added that "compared to when abortion was illegal before Roe, misoprostol is still safer." But as with any illegal drug, there is a period of elevated risk before users discover the proper dosages and protocols. If abortion became illegal, he said, "If I were a woman, I'd rather go to Brazil than Mississippi, because at least there they've learned how to do it."
UPDATE: Check out Jill's take on the $2 abortion at Feministe!
Politics Reproductive Rights Feminism Pro Choice Roe Cytotec
