SOBERING: The human cost of the abortion pill

UPDATE, 7/7/26: In June, Guttmacher updated national abortion estimates for 2025, increasing estimated abortion pill totals to 734,435. This translates to 61,203 abortions by pill per month, 2,012 a day, 84 hourly, and one abortion pill abortion every 43 seconds.

5/8/26: More than 700,000 abortions by pill are taking place annually, making up an estimated 65% or more of all abortions recorded in the United States in 2025.

This is not freedom. It has serious consequences: lives of babies lost, lives of some mothers lost, and many women that survive are left to suffer lifelong consequences and regret.

Sometimes, they even suffer lasting physical consequences; based on the drug’s medication guide, it is estimated that in 2025, between 15,000 and 51,200 women who took the abortion pill had follow-up surgical procedures due to dangerous incomplete abortions.

Key Takeaways:

• At least 732,000 abortions by pill took place in 2025, which equates to approximately 60,992 per month; 2,005 per day; 84 per hour; and one every 44 seconds.

• Total abortions in the U.S. are estimated at 1,126,000 abortions, or 3,085 per day; 21,654 per week; and nearly 94,000 per month.

• The abortion pill is estimated by the Guttmacher Institute to comprise 65% of all abortions.

• In 2016, the FDA removed requirements for abortion pill manufacturers to report all adverse events; instead, they only had to report deaths (if they were made aware of them).

• For decades, the abortion industry has participated in a scheme to hide abortion pill complications by instructing women to present to the ER and lie, claiming a natural miscarriage instead.

• The federal Comstock Act prohibits the mailing of abortion drugs, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the United States Postal Service (USPS) turn a blind eye to lawbreakers.

• The FDA's 2023 changes to abortion pill safety protocols (REMS) are likely the main culprit behind national abortion increases and the flood of pills entering even pro-life states.

• Adding to the influx are "shield laws" 

The Details:

Abortion pill data

In 2025, approximately 732,000+ reported abortions by pill took place, and an estimated 65,000 took place in January 2026 alone. Abortion data reported by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute is likely an underestimation of what is actually taking place.

But overall, estimates from various sources show...

• 7.5 million women used the abortion pill between 2000 and 2024.

• Abortion pills make up at least 65% of national abortions, with an estimated 732K in 2025.

• Planned Parenthood commits 42% of abortions by pill — an estimated 304K in 2024-25.

Estimated impact on women:

• 21.2K to 44K likely present to ERs annually after taking abortion pills.

• 15K to 51.2K abortions by pill likely fail each year, resulting in follow-up surgical procedures or additional drugs to complete the abortions.

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

Key dates

• 2000: The abortion pill (Mifeprex or mifepristone 200 mg) is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a regimen with a second drug called misoprostol.

• 2011: Concern about the drug's safety placed mifepristone/Mifeprex under the REMS.

• 2016: The FDA eroded the drug's REMS (safety protocols), enabling it to be prescribed through 10 weeks of pregnancy instead of seven, and removed requirements for manufacturers to report any adverse events other than deaths.

• 2023: The FDA removed the in-person dispensing requirement, allowing the drug to be dispensed by mail or pharmacy.

These changes were made despite the fact that the federal Comstock Act prohibits the mailing of abortion drugs.

Statistics and estimates

1. Total U.S. abortions

In March of 2026, Guttmacher updated its abortion estimates for 2025 to 1,126,000 abortions, but the former "special affiliate" of Planned Parenthood specified that this was an underestimation.

The totals reflect nearly...

• 3,085 preborn babies aborted per day

• 21,654 per week

• Nearly 94,000 per month

2. Abortion pill estimates for 2025

Guttmacher also updated its previous 63% figure for abortion pills and is now suggesting the abortion pill makes up 65% of all abortions.

"For the first time, these include estimates of telehealth provision to residents of states with total bans; the report also updates prior year estimates to include these states," Guttmacher wrote in March 2026.

Guttmacher added separately:

In 2023, medication abortion accounted for 65% of all clinician-provided abortions in the United States; by contrast, this method accounted for 53% of abortions in 2020.

At the state level, medication abortion accounted for the majority of abortions in nearly all US states without a total ban, ranging from 44% in Washington, DC and 46% in Ohio to 84% in Montana and 95% in Wyoming. These estimates do not include self-managed abortions.

In 2025, there were an estimated 731,900 or more abortions by pill, which translates to...

• 60,992 per month

• 2,005 per day

• 84 per hour

• one every 44 seconds

Separately, Guttmacher wrote that "medication abortion accounted for the majority of abortions provided in most US states without total abortion bans in 2023."

By January of 2026, nearly 65K of the estimated 99,470 total abortions were likely committed by the abortion pill.

3. Abortion pill use since approval

"The estimated number of women who have used mifepristone in the U.S. for medical termination of pregnancy through the end of December 2024 is approximately 7.5 million women," reported the FDA.

Abortion pill adverse events

"As of December 31, 2024, there were 36 reports of deaths in patients associated with mifepristone since the product was approved in September 2000," the FDA's website states, adding:

The adverse events cannot with certainty be causally attributed to mifepristone because of concurrent use of other drugs, other medical or surgical treatments, co-existing medical conditions, and information gaps about patient health status and clinical management of the patient

1. Emergency Rooms

The 2023 mifepristone label for mifepristone includes a black box warning of serious bleeding, infection, and possible sepsis.

Table 2 (Serious Adverse Reactions Reported in Women Following Administration of Mifepristone [oral] and Misoprostol [buccal] in U.S. and Non-U.S. Clinical Studies) acknowledges that “2.9 to 4.6 percent of women who take abortion drugs end up in the emergency room.”

The data is similar to findings from a previously documented Gynuity Health Projects (GHP) telabortion study which found that six percent (6%) of participants... faced complications... which resulted in ER visits or urgent care visits. Gynuity is a pro-abortion group, conducting clinical trials on the abortion pill and funded by organizations with deep historic ties to the American eugenics movement.

2. Abortion pill failures

The FDA’s medication guide acknowledges as many as 7% of women will require surgical intervention after taking mifepristone ‘to stop bleeding’ or to complete the abortion.

Manufacturers of the drug agree, writing online:

• GenBioPro (GBP): Average of a 93-98% range in success rate.

• Danco: About 2 to 7 out of 100 women taking Mifeprex will need a surgical procedure because the pregnancy did not completely pass from the uterus or to stop bleeding.

• Evita Solutions: 93-98% effective for safely ending early pregnancy. 2-7% of patients will need a follow-up surgical procedure to terminate the pregnancy or to stop heavy bleeding.

3. Estimated ER and failure data

Using the estimated 732K abortion pill totals for 2025:

• Women presenting to emergency departments: 21.2K to 34K, or as high as 44K

• Abortion pill failures: Nearly 15K to 51.2K abortion pill abortions likely fail.

While abortion providers like Planned Parenthood agree the drug has the potential for failures, especially as gestation increases, many abortion pill prescribers fail to abide by the FDA's REMS, often prescribing the drug past the FDA's approved limits — which has not been studied thoroughly.

4. Scheme to hide complications

In 2016, the FDA removed requirements for abortion pill manufacturers to report all adverse events; instead, they only had to report deaths (if they were made aware of them).

• Live Action News has documented that for decades, the abortion industry has participated in a scheme to hide abortion pill complications by instructing women to present to the ER and lie, claiming a natural miscarriage instead.

• Some who oversee abortion pill safety studies have urged ER staff to falsify medical documents to cover up abortion pill complications.

• Bad actors in the industry not only fail to confirm gestation but also fail to rule out dangerous ectopic pregnancies, promote using the drug in advance of a confirmed pregnancy, and promote an unapproved one-drug regimen of misoprostol only.

Despite these deliberate actions, the drug's makers, who are tasked with policing and decertifying prescribers who fail to follow requirements, have failed to do either. This is a coordinated attempt to bury the truth.

Planned Parenthood and Independent Abortion Facilities

Planned Parenthood’s 2024-25 annual report recorded 434,450 total abortions, and its president previously claimed that 70% of its abortion business is the abortion pill.

• Using the 70% figure, we estimate the abortion corporation committed over 304,000 chemical abortions that same year.

• Based on national Guttmacher abortion pill estimates (732,000) for 2025, it is reasonable to estimate that Planned Parenthood now commits 42% of all chemical (abortion pill) abortions.

Planned Parenthood has adjusted its business model, shuttered brick-and-mortar facilities, and increasingly relies on telehealth — including the mailing of abortion pills. Its “Virtual Health Centers (VHCs)” across the country are part of a larger restructuring plan put in place years ago for increased profits.

Abortion Care Network (ACN), reports that in 2025:

• 72% of Independent Abortion Facilities provided both surgical and chemical abortion, while 27% provided chemical only.

• 43% of Planned Parenthood brick and mortar facilities provided both surgical and chemical abortion, while 56% provided chemical only.

Federal law prohibits mailing of abortion drugs

The Comstock Act (18 U.S.C. § 1461) prohibits the mailing of “any article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing [that] may, or can, be used or applied for producing abortion[.]” Yet, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Justice (DOJ), and the United States Postal Service (USPS) turn a blind eye to lawbreakers.

The Comstock Act does not prohibit the mailing of drugs which are to be used...

• in cases of miscarriage.

• to save the life of a mother.

• for other medical purposes.

As such, six states are challenging the FDA's 2023 erosions to REMS safety requirements for the drug mifepristone (200mg)/Mifeprex, including the State of Louisiana.

The goal of Big Abortion is to distribute the deadly abortion drug over-the-counter.

'Telehealth' abortions and 'shield laws'

The Guttmacher Institute recently noted that telehealth abortion with the ability to mail abortion pills to abortion seekers across the U.S., even into pro-life states, has contributed to the increased abortion numbers since the end of Roe v. Wade.

Separately, Guttmacher wrote:

• As of April 23, 2026, 13 states are enforcing total bans on abortion care. 

•  91,000 abortions were provided via telehealth to states with total bans in 2025—this includes 9,350 abortions provided via telehealth to Louisiana. 

Adding to the influx are "shield laws" passed by pro-abortion states to prevent abortionists in those states from being prosecuted for sending abortion drugs into states where it is illegal. These laws do not protect women.

Some states, including Texas, Florida, and Arkansas, have sent cease-and-desist letters and/or added their voices to lawsuits in an attempt to halt this activity, making it known that federal Comstock laws already cite it as illegal.

There were 40,000 abortion pill shipments to women in the last half of 2023, #WeCount reported in May 2024.

By June 2025, #WeCount reported:

• "[N]early 15,000 abortions per month [were] provided under shield laws by June 2025."

• "In the first six months of 2025, 27% of abortions were provided via telehealth."

• "Counts are likely an underrepresentation of all abortions in the US... These counts also do not include abortions that take place in the US outside of the formal healthcare system."

#WeCount is sponsored by the pro-abortion Society of Family Planning, which was founded in 2005 with contributions from the Packard Foundation, and is heavily funded by both the Packard and Susan Thompson Buffett Foundations (Warren Buffett). These foundations financed abortion pill manufacturer Danco Laboratories in its early days.

Abortion pills are flooding pro-life states

#WeCount's state data indicates that while the number of abortions in pro-life states dropped, abortion pills shipped into states where abortion was illegal under "shield laws" skyrocketed.

#WeCount wrote:

Where telehealth abortion is restricted, the share of abortions provided via telehealth under shield laws varied widely.

#WeCount also claimed:

Where abortion is banned, nearly all abortions were provided via telehealth under shield laws.

In states with total abortion bans, telehealth abortions provided under shield laws make up nearly all abortions occurring within those states.

#WeCount wrote:

"The number and proportion of telehealth abortions provided under shield laws has increased over time. As of June 2025, more than half (55%) of telehealth abortions are provided under shield laws... [and] totaled 14,770 per month.

The Bottom Line:

The FDA's 2023 changes to abortion pill safety protocols (REMS) are likely the main culprit behind national abortion increases and the flood of pills entering even pro-life states. Adding to this are the failure to enforce federal prohibitions, and drug manufacturers who aid and abet illegal efforts while failing to police or decertify prescribers who are not following the rules.

For additional information, read Live Action's "State of Chemical Abortion" report.