Last week, the Food and Drug Administration updated rules for taking Mifeprex, an abortion-inducing drug. Women who need the pill can now take it in lower dosages than before.
Mifeprex works through a two-step process. First, users take mifepristone. Soon afterward, they take misoprostol. The FDA formerly required doctors to administer both doses.
Now, however, a doctor must be present for only the first dose, and women can administer the second dose themselves.
But the misoprostol does more than induce abortions. Doctors also prescribe it as a safe alternative to surgery for women who have had early miscarriages.
In fact, the National Institutes of Health studied 652 women who recently had a miscarriage. It found that 78 percent of women would take the drug again. Misoprostol also proved cheaper and more comfortable than surgical procedures.
New advances in women’s health lead me to think about how difficult it would be for women to access abortion if Donald Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz were elected. Both men are actively anti-abortion, and Cruz even wants to discontinue funding for Planned Parenthood.
These candidates represent dark futures for women — futures in which they do not have any rights to control their own bodies.
Abortion rights improve the lives of women everywhere. I urge everyone to think very carefully about whom they plan to vote for during this election. Rather than Republicans, consider candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, both of whom I know will fight hard for women’s rights.
Keelia Moeller welcomes comments at [email protected].
