Family says woman died after husband forced her to take abortion drugs

A woman in India has died after reports say her husband forced her to take abortion drugs. Authorities are reportedly now investigating the matter.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• A 23-year-old woman in India was six months pregnant with her second child when she died after taking an unnamed abortion drug.

• The woman’s family said her husband was superstitious, believing that she should not be pregnant while they were constructing a new home.

• Though abortion drugs are often touted as safe, they come with significant risks, especially when taken later in pregnancy.

THE DETAILS:

According to news reports, the 23-year-old woman, Pravallika, was six months pregnant with her second child when her husband, S. Prashant, forced her to “unknowingly” ingest abortion drugs. Pravallika’s relatives say that Prashant was motivated by a superstitious belief that a woman should not be pregnant while undergoing the responsibilities of a new home; the couple was reportedly in the process of building a house.

Pravallika consumed the pills given to her, unaware that they would cause an abortion, and, according to media, she “immediately began bleeding heavily” and “was rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences University Hospital in Adilabad, where doctors declared she had suffered a miscarriage.” She was sent to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, but her condition continued to deteriorate, and she died a day later.

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Circle Inspector Phanidhar told the Indian Express that authorities are investigating the incident and the circumstances surrounding Pravallika’s death.

“The relatives allege that she was forced to take the drug. The woman suffered heavy bleeding during an abortion and could not be saved. The reports of a superstitious belief involved have not been reported to us so far,” he said.

REALITY CHECK:

Though they are often touted by abortion advocates as “safe,” abortion drugs come with risks, which increase with gestational age. One study recently found that serious adverse events from mifepristone (the abortion pill) occur at a rate approximately 22 times higher than the rate reported on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) label for the drug.

In the United States, the abortion pill regimen (mifepristone and misoprostol) is only FDA-approved for use through 10 weeks of pregnancy; taking the abortion pill after that time frame greatly increases the risk to the woman, as well as the chance that the drugs will fail.

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In the United States, a past protocol required a woman to meet with a physician in person before receiving the abortion pill, but that is no longer the widespread standard of practice due to the loosening of FDA safety regulations and the approval of mail-order abortion.

It is unclear how Pravallika’s husband obtained the abortion drugs, or which abortion drugs she took — but all come with risks.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Pravallika’s unfortunate death underscores the reality: abortion drugs can be deadly for both preborn children and their mothers.