An Ohio law that mandates physicians use FDA-approved protocol for medication abortions led to worsened outcomes, a new study suggests.
For the study, researchers looked at chart data from 2,783 women who obtained medication abortions from one year prior to the law's implementation (January 2010–January 2011) to three years post implementation (February 2011–October 2014) at four abortion-providing healthcare facilities in Ohio.
They found that 4.9 percent of women who obtained their abortions before the law was passed required one or more additional interventions to complete their abortion. This compares to 14.3 percent of women who obtained their abortions after the law was passed.
The most common subsequent intervention in both periods was an additional abortion medication dose and was typically administered to treat incomplete abortion, researchers said.
The study also found that the percentage of women requiring two or more follow-up visits increased from 4.2 percent before the law was passed to 6.2 percent after the law was passed. Additionally, according to the study, 12.6 percent of women who obtained medication abortions reported at least one side effect during their medication abortion: 8.4 percent before the law passed and 15.6 percent after the law passed.
Researchers concluded that "Ohio law required use of a medication abortion protocol that is associated with a greater need for additional intervention, more visits, more side effects and higher costs for women relative to the evidence-based protocol."