Exploring the Use of Misoprostol for Self-induced Abortion Worldwide: Observations, Reflections, and Discussion (lunch and learn session)

Presenters: M. Zurek, B. Winikoff, A.M. Foster, J. Gonzalez-Rojas

Background: Reproductive health service providers, researchers, community-based organizations, and women’s health and rights advocates have become increasingly aware of the use of misoprostol to self-induce abortion worldwide.  While this phenomenon has been long documented in Latin America, an emerging body of research and reported clinical experiences suggest that the use of misoprostol is also prevalent in other regions as well as among immigrant women in the US. Although the use of misoprostol for self-induction affords women a relatively safe and effective option for pregnancy termination in settings where other methods of abortion are unavailable, unaffordable, or highly restricted, the suspected rise of the practice in the US has also raised concerns about women’s access to safe abortion and other reproductive health services.

Organized by the Misoprostol-Alone Working Group, this Lunch and Learn session aims to provide a forum for discussion about the use of misoprostol for self-induction of abortion. Drawing from the research, experiences, and perspectives of four organizations engaged with this issue in the US, Latin America, and the Arab world, this session offers both a context for this practice and a space for constructive dialog about ways to frame and think about this phenomenon.

Learning objectives:

1. Provide an overview of the “off-label” use of misoprostol as a single agent abortifacient in both the first and second trimester, including a review of evidence-based regimens;
2. Present information about the use of misoprostol for self-induction in the US and in the international context;
3. Discuss misoprostol use for self-induced abortion with reflections on the underlying assumptions that often frame discussion of the practice; and
4. Drawing from the experiences and perspectives of attendees, provide a forum for a broader discussion of ways that we might collectively think about, frame, and understand this phenomenon.