Pro-abortion expert unintentionally casts doubt on abortion pill safety

A pro-abortion professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California recently stated that use of the abortion pill later in pregnancy needs "more research to demonstrate" safety.

And yet, Big Abortion is already prescribing the drug to women who are well into the second and third trimester of pregnancy.

Key Takeaways:

• Pro-abortion researcher Ushma Upadhyay discussed abortion on a podcast, claiming that "more "research" is needed to "demonstrate whether" the abortion pill is "safe" at 12 weeks or later — and yet, it is being given to women well past the FDA limit of 10 weeks already.

• Yet at the same time, she claimed the abortion pill is very safe — even safe enough to be sold over the counter.

• She admitted a desire to make abortion easier to obtain and that it has increased due to telehealth.

• She also attempted to smear pro-lifers.

The Details:

Upadhyay's claims originated from an interview with the podcast 'Unchecked,' a production of Curious Squid — described online as "a digital design consulting firm specializing in information architecture, user experience, and product design."

While the show's hosts Dan Brown and Rachel Price allegedly expose 'disinformation,' the duo offered no opposing viewpoint to counter Upadhyay's claims.

Playing both sides

Upadhyay told Unchecked:

• "[M]edication abortion has a lot of restrictions."

• A "clinician who prescribes mifepristone has to have a special certification."

• The drug has only been "approved up to 10 weeks gestation."

These claims are technically correct; however, Upadhyay added:

The other thing is that currently it's only approved up to 10 weeks gestation. But we need more research to demonstrate whether it is safe up to 12 weeks gestation, a little bit further, maybe 13, maybe 14 weeks.

And then there's also research to be done around over-the-counter access potentially, you know, in an ideal world. 

The abortion pill is already being given to women after the FDA-approved limit of 10 weeks — even by abortion industry leader Planned Parenthood.

A 2023 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report showed that, even back in 2021, the abortion pill...

... accounted for 70.6% of abortions at ≤6 weeks’ gestation, 61.6% of abortions at 7–9 weeks’ gestation, 20.6% of abortions at 10–13 weeks’ gestation, 1.3%–3.1% of abortions at 14–20 weeks’ gestation, and 12.3% of abortions at ≥21 weeks’ gestation.

And as Live Action News reported in 2023, Upadhyay's UCSF/ANSIRH colleague, Dr. Daniel Grossman, "an abortionist who has been behind multiple abortion pill-related clinical trials, openly promotes use of the abortion pill through 12 weeks." Other abortion providers promote the abortion pill's use even later in gestation.

The abortion pill's 'no-test' protocol (the ability to obtain it without proof of pregnancy, ultrasound, or any other testing) increases the likelihood that women are guessing at how far along their pregnancies are; the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists noted that it has been said half of women accurately recall the date of their last menstrual period. And yet, the failure rate of the abortion pill increases with gestational age.

So, if "more research" is needed to "demonstrate whether [the abortion pill] is safe" at later gestations, according to abortion industry expert Upadhyay, this is a blatant admission that the abortion pill is being dispensed later in pregnancy against FDA regulations and without proof of its safety for women.

However, in the next moment, Upadhyay appeared to backpedal, claiming:

It's already so safe. It's very likely to be safe as an over-the-counter medication in the future. There's a lot of proactive research to be done.

Uphadyay failed to mention that, in 2011, the drug was placed under the FDA's REMS safety system after several women died while taking it. And the drug remained under REMS through multiple pro-abortion administrations.

1st Trimester Abortion | The Abortion Pill | What Is Abortion?

Surprising Admissions

1) Primary reason for increased abortions is "telehealth"

"The number of abortions has increased after Dobbs. And people don't realize that. Yeah, the primary reason is because of telehealth. So telehealth came onto the scene during the COVID pandemic. It was first approved. Telehealth is where a patient will contact a telehealth abortion provider...

So that has really removed so many of the barriers that existed even before Roe versus Wade was overturned and has made abortion cheaper, has removed a lot of the logistical barriers to abortion, and has contributed to the increase in abortion access."

2) Making abortion 'easier' should be 'priority'

"I am funded to do proactive science. I write research grants. I submit to NIH or I submit to private foundations. And so the work I do has to be financially supported...

My research on telehealth abortion, that really began because I did a lot of research on the distances people had to travel to reach an abortion clinic, like in 2016, 2017. And I was thinking, oh my gosh, the logistical, the travel barriers are so huge that telehealth would be a game changer.

This was long before COVID, but I wasn't thinking about the anti's, I was thinking about how do we help people get this basic health care? How do we make it easier? How do we remove these barriers? And I think that should always be our priority."

3) Abortion should be promoted in schools

"But a chunk of people didn't even know that abortion could be had with pills. Wow. It's not something that people learn about in their health classes or, you know, even my kid is in high school and they're not talking about different types of abortion methods. They're talking about contraception, but not really abortion."

False Claims

Upadhyay made several claims to Unchecked, which the podcast failed to challenge:

1) Pro-lifers spread 'misinformation'

"People who are anti-abortion are focused on spreading misinformation about the safety of medication abortion because what they want is the FDA to restrict access. They even want the FDA to remove approval of mifepristone, which is the primary medication in a medication abortion. So that is what they're working on.

There are lawsuits right now, anti-abortion groups suing the FDA, and their primary reason, they say, is because the abortion pill is hurting women, it's dangerous.

Their purpose is to spread this information, to spread these lies. They're publishing junk science, false narratives, which are forming the basis of these lawsuits against the FDA. And so the more they can spread this disinformation, misinformation, the easier it is for them to get the public to support regulations and restrictions on abortion."

2) Abortion pill is 'safe'

It's already so safe. It's very likely to be safe as an over-the-counter medication in the future. There's a lot of proactive research to be done.

3) "Secrecy" contributes to abortion misinformation

And so I think the secrecy around it contributes to the misinformation because people don't talk about it. 

Who is Ushma Upadhyay?

Ushma Upadhyay is radically pro-abortion and is working to expand the use of abortion pills and erode the FDA's REMS safety requirements for the drug. Upadhyay is:

• A University of California San Francisco (UCSF) professor. The UC system, which trains in abortion, is heavily funded by abortion pill investors Warren Buffett, David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. UC sponsored multiple abortion pill clinical trials.

• An investigator with UCSF’s Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), founded by abortionist Felicia H. Stewart and funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation - which invested $14.2 million  early on to get Danco Laboratories, on track.

• Advocated a “no test/no touch” protocol for the abortion pill, which eliminated important preliminary labs, testing, and ultrasounds — potentially placing women in harm’s way.

• Has argued the FDA should “remove as many barriers as possible” from the abortion pill.

• Oversaw the biased “California Home Abortion by Telehealth (CHAT) Study.”

• A recipient of multiple awards from the National Abortion Federation.

Why It Matters:

The abortion pill mifepristone (200mg)/Mifeprex was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000 for use up to seven weeks of pregnancy and was placed under a safety system called REMS in 2011, to monitor adverse events.

Just five years later, in 2016, the Obama FDA eroded the REMS to include:

• Removing the requirement to report any abortion pill complications other than deaths.

• Allowing expanded use of the drug, increasing it from seven to 10 weeks gestation.

Interestingly, the 2016 REMS erosion was not one that Danco Laboratories, the drug's manufacturer, originally sought. In fact, at that time, Danco claimed it was short the millions of dollars to even attempt it.

The REMS change was instead pushed and financed by a pro-abortion coalition — including groups like Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and others — who helped the manufacturer "raise money."

FDA's approved gestational limits have remained at 10 weeks; however, Bad Actors inside the abortion industry continue to prescribe the drug outside FDA's safety limits. 

As Live Action's detailed abortion pill report documented:

Alarmingly, lawsuits reveal abortion drugs are prescribed well into the second and third trimesters. One client alleged she was told "not to call law enforcement" after presenting clinic staff with the body of her 30 to 36-week-old son, who died from the abortion drugs the clinic had prescribed.

Even long-time late-term abortionist Warren Hern has criticized this trend, questioning the lack of follow-up exams to ensure the uterus is empty and asking who will care for women with complications.

Manufacturers Danco and generic abortion pill maker GenBioPro (GBP) do little to nothing to police this flagrant REMS violation.

Key Facts:

• 2011: FDA was concerned enough about the safety of the abortion pill to put it under the REMS safety system to monitor adverse events.

• 2016: abortion insiders funded Danco's move to get complication report requirements removed, (except deaths). Yet, long before 2016 changes occurred, Big Abortion schemed to hide complications by advising women at the point of sale to lie about their complications, should they ever need to visit the emergency room.

• 2025: FDA has promised a review of the abortion pill, the final report has yet to be published.

• Drug’s 2023 label has a black box warning for sepsis, infection, and bleeding and suggests roughly one in 25 women who take mifepristone will end up in the emergency room.

• The predatory abortion industry through deceptive marketing practices hides facts about safety, deaths, abortion regret or trauma, black box warnings, and fetal development.

Zoom In:

Women who use abortion pills could potentially see the remains of their babies once expelled into a toilet. 

9-10 weeks: Planned Parenthood acknowledges:

Fingers and toes grow longer. The umbilical cord connects the abdomen of the fetus to the placenta. The placenta is attached to the wall of the uterus and it absorbs nutrients from the bloodstream. The cord carries nutrients and oxygen to the fetus and takes waste away from the fetus.

11 and 12 weeks: preborn child can play in the womb and her taste buds have matured into discrete tastebuds, according to Live Action’s Baby Olivia website.

Planned Parenthood notes:

Fingers and toes are no longer webbed. Bones begin hardening. Skin and fingernails begin to grow. Changes triggered by hormones begin to make external sex organs appear — female or male. The fetus begins making spontaneous movements. Kidneys start making urine. Early sweat glands appear. Eyelids are fused together.

The First 10 Weeks Of Human Life

Big Abortion pushes abortion pill usage until the preborn child can no longer fully flush down a toilet drain, yet the baby is human from the moment of fertilization, and deserving of protection.