The second chance for women to choose life through Abortion Pill Reversal continues to see success in large part thanks to the many medical professionals who are aware of its impact and are willing to implement it. In a recent development, pharmacists are now included in the roster of healthcare professionals on board to work with the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN).
This addition of pharmacists to the APRN creates another layer of expertise supporting the lifesaving opportunity provided by Abortion Pill Reversal (APR).
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Two drugs are used to perform a chemical abortion, also known as the abortion pill, mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone acts as a progesterone blocker. Progesterone is a necessary natural hormone for retaining pregnancy. Misoprostol is taken 24 hours later and causes the uterus to contract and expel the pregnancy.
There have been countless scenarios where a woman panics upon taking the first abortion pill, regretting having done so. Some women have stated they tried to make themselves vomit, as they realize this is not what they want to do after all.
APR entails progesterone prescribed to the woman after she has taken mifepristone but before she would take the misoprostol. Countering the mifepristone with bioidentical progesterone may save the pregnancy. A 2018 peer-reviewed study found that 64%-68% of the pregnancies were saved through APR. There was also no increase in birth defects and a lower preterm delivery rate than the general population.
Statistics say that to date more than 5,000 lives and counting have been saved thanks to APR.
Pro-life ob-gyns from across the U.S. and the world have been on board to prescribe the APR when women call the hotline searching for help. Many pregnancy centers are also part of the APRN, a network of more than 1,400 healthcare professionals, pregnancy centers, hospitals – and now pharmacies – that administer or refer for APR.
The addition of pharmacists to the APRN is a first for making these medical professional available in a woman’s time of crisis.
Christa Brown, senior director of Medical Impact for Heartbeat International, said that adding pharmacists to the APRN was the next logical step.
“This partnership to support women is exciting for us,” Brown said. “Prescribers can prescribe the reversal protocol in a pharmacy which supports the woman's choice to continue her pregnancy.”
Heartbeat International is the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and the world a manages the APRN.
“A pharmacist brings an additional level of professional experience that ensures women will receive the care they need,” she said. “Pharmacists have a depth of understanding of how the drug mifepristone works and how its dangerous effects can be reversed with progesterone.”
The danger posed by chemical abortion drugs, Brown said, is one that women need to understand and that APRN pharmacists can confirm simply because they understand the science.
“The reversal of mifepristone is backed by science,” said Brown.
“Mifepristone is a progesterone receptor antagonist,” she explained. “When micronized progesterone is administered to women hoping to continue their pregnancies, it works to reverse the antagonistic effect of mifepristone.”
“As mifepristone was developed decades ago, researchers documented how it could be reversed with progesterone,” she added. “It's been proven in animal and human studies, as well in the thousands of children alive today after successful Abortion Pill Reversal.”
A pharmacist can provide that education, Brown said. She pointed out that bioidentical “natural” progesterone has been saving pregnancies since the 1950s and even gained FDA approval in 1998. Progesterone is also used in IVF treatments and has been proven safe, she said.
Tweet This: A pharmacist brings an additional level of professional experience that ensures women will receive the care they need when seeking APR.
Brown told Pregnancy Help News that the “pro-choice” crowd tries to quash these scientific truths with their own spin on “science.” Pro-abortion politicians and a complicit abortion-affirming media are also onboard with suppressing and denigrating APR.
“It is unethical to withhold information and access to this care from those requesting it,” Brown noted.
“Offering a safe antidote to a drug is within the standard of care and this includes reversal of mifepristone for women choosing to continue their pregnancies,” she said.
Despite this ongoing push against the reversal protocol, most of the time women do not have a problem getting their prescription filled for the progesterone, Brown said.
“However, some women seeking patient education have been denied their prescriptions for progesterone,” Brown said. “This is not because there is a potential for harm, but due to political ideology regarding abortion.”
There are pharmacists, she said, who believe, like pro-abortion activists, that once an abortion is started, it should continue.
“When this occurs, we are usually able to move the progesterone prescription to a different pharmacy. But it's challenging for the patient to experience a delay in care as prescribed by her physician,” she said.
Brown explained the process when a woman in need seeks help from the APRN.
She reaches out to the APRN, which has trained nurses on the phone 24 hours a day. Women can initially connect via phone, text, chat, or email. Following an explanation of the help available to her, she is then asked if she would like to proceed. If she answers in favor of going forward, the nurse then connects her with an APR provider in her area. She is also given contact information for her local pregnancy center for free assistance and resources. The medical professional prescribing the progesterone connects the woman with a pharmacy.
“This is urgent care because the woman has taken an abortion drug,” Brown said. “Over 90 percent of the connections happen in less than an hour from the time of her call.”
“The pharmacist is able to continue the education and answer any further questions the woman may have,” she said.
Therefore, pharmacists who work with the APRN are a vital piece of the puzzle where time matters.
The network is always seeking new providers as they grow in providing women a second chance at choice.
OB-GYNs, pregnancy centers and pharmacists can go online to the APRN and follow the steps to join the network.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is currently the subject of two lawsuits brought by state attorneys general concerning sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal.
