Aid Access Discusses Making Abortion Pill Available as Contraception

In an interview with Democracy Now, Rebecca Gomperts, MD, mentioned plans to make mifepristone, the abortion pill, available as a weekly or emergency contraceptive. Gomperts is the founder of Aid Access, a private initiative to improve access to reproductive care.  

The organization comprises doctors, advocates, and activists who provide information on reproductive care and push for widened access to care.  

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, many organizations and healthcare professionals are looking for ways to improve contraceptive and abortion care access.  

In her interview, Gomperts discusses using a lower dose of mifepristone once weekly as a form of contraception. She goes on to explain that mifepristone is registered as an abortion pill but has a variety of uses, including preventing ovulation.  

Its ability to prevent ovulation makes it an effective form of birth control and emergency contraceptive like the morning after pill.  

Gomperts states that mifepristone, unlike traditional birth control pills, is not hormonal, which means the side effects associated with hormones in standard oral birth controls will be mitigated.  

She tells Democracy Now that the goal of expanding this medication's use is to “blur the lines between contraception and abortion.” Currently, because contraception is not as regulated as abortion is, varying medication usage will help improve its overall accessibility.  

As of 2016, the FDA has approved mifepristone as a medication to be combined with misoprostol to terminate a pregnancy within the first 70 days of gestation.  

The recommended dosing regimen is 200 mg of mifepristone taken by mouth with 800 mcg of misoprostol taken buccally between 24 and 48 hours after the initial dose. Following the medication, patients are advised to follow up with a healthcare professional.  

When asked why the pill can be used alone, Gomperts says that mifepristone alone works to “postpone or prevent ovulation and impacts the endometrium itself.” 

According to Planned Parenthood, “mifepristone works by blocking the hormone progesterone. Without progesterone, the lining of the uterus breaks down, and the pregnancy cannot continue.” 

Despite the potential benefits of mifepristone as a birth control method, in her interview, Gomperts acknowledges the lack of focus on this product from pharmaceutical companies. She explains that, due to abortion access being limited and regulated, many pharmaceutical companies have avoided this route as it did not seem profitable.  

As the environment around reproductive care and contraception changes rapidly, patients and physicians await innovations and regulation changes.