New poll: Americans say abortion pill 'safety' should trump 'access'

A new poll has found that a majority of Americans feel the "safety" of the abortion pill for women is a bigger priority than keeping it easily accessible.

Key Takeaways:

• 1,000 Americans were polled by YouGov on behalf of Americans United for Life (AUL).

• Nearly 70% of Americans said patient "safety" should be prioritized over ease of access to the drugs (safety regarding the drugs' intended victims was not included in the poll).

• A similar number said there should be stronger safeguards on the abortion pill.

The Details:

The Washington Times reported on the poll, which found that most Americans think safety regarding the abortion pill mifepristone is more important than easy access. "Since the Dobbs decision, abortion advocates have tried to convince women that access matters more than our own safety," Sarah Zagorski, AUL senior director of PR and communications, said. "More than two-thirds of Americans have rejected that deception."

86% of respondents said health care providers should properly educate patients and obtain informed consent before prescribing the abortion pill.

Furthermore, 68% of respondents said safety should be a priority over ease of access, and nearly the same amount — 67% — said there should be stronger safeguards. Despite this, a plurality did say they wanted mifepristone to remain available.

“When the Biden administration removed in-person dispensing requirements for mifepristone, they removed any guarantee that women receive informed consent,” John Mize, CEO of Americans United for Life, said. “Americans predominantly agree that safety and informed consent should be the highest priority, and now we have the polling to show that the abortion pill is no exception. Increased safeguards are popular considering the risks at hand and align with the best interest of women nationwide.”

Why It Matters:

Safeguards surrounding the abortion pill have been steadily weakened since first being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000. At that time, mifepristone could only be taken up to seven weeks, required an in-person doctor's visit, and any adverse events also had to be reported.

Eventually, it was approved through 10 weeks gestation, the requirement to see a doctor in-person was removed, and non-fatal adverse events were no longer required to be reported.

The FDA temporarily enabled abortion pill distribution by mail and expanded the REMS to limited mail-order pharmacy distribution in 2021, and then further weakened the REMS by eliminating the in-person dispensing requirement and allowing the abortion pill to be permanently shipped by mail. (You can read the full timeline of the abortion pill in the U.S. here.)

Despite the lack of reporting of non-fatal adverse events, the abortion industry has been advertising mifepristone as safe, even calling it safer than Tylenol or Viagra. As Live Action News' previously explained:

A valid comparison of hospital visit frequency must account for the frequency with which both drugs are taken. Fortunately, this data is available. This 2016 study sought to analyze trends in acetaminophen-related adverse events, and tracked the rate of annual ER visits relative to annual sales of the drug. It found that, for the year 2012 (the most recent year covered by the study), there were 282.1 acetaminophen-related ER visits for every 1 (one) million units sold. Assuming typical dosage to be equivalent to two tablets, this means that .056% of doses sold resulted in a hospital visit (282.1/500,000 = .00056).

But even this number is inflated compared to mifepristone’s hospital visit rate, because it includes children and people who intentionally overdosed, populations which are irrelevant to mifepristone’s calculations. 

And what is mifepristone’s hospital visit rate?

A recent study conducted by the abortion industry itself found an ER and urgent care visit rate of 6%. That’s 107 times greater than the rate for acetaminophen/Tylenol, which again, is actually a low number if we were to compare equivalent populations.

A recent analysis of a large insurance database found that adverse events occurred at a rate 22 times higher than that reported on the FDA label. Another study found chemical abortions to be four times more dangerous than first-trimester surgical abortion. Additionally, another study from Ireland found 12% of women had to go to the emergency room for bleeding or infection, with an additional 16% suffering incomplete abortions.

Still another study found that women were not prepared for how painful the chemical abortion process would be.

The Bottom Line:

Americans should be skeptical of any claims that the abortion pill is as "safe" as the abortion industry and media allies portray it to be.