New research uncovers potential alternative to abortion pill mifepristone

A new study suggests a possible alternative to the abortion pill mifepristone, a drug that continues to be the target of lawsuits and laws from abortion opponents.

But this potential substitute could further complicate reproductive health policy, as it is also the key ingredient in a morning-after contraceptive pill.

The new study, published Thursday in the journal NEJM Evidence, focused on a drug called ulipristal acetate, the active ingredient in the prescription contraceptive Ella, one of two types of morning-after pills approved in the United States. (The other, Plan B One-Step, which does not require a prescription, contains a different drug and does not work to end a pregnancy, according to scientific evidence.)

In the study, 133 women up to nine weeks pregnant took twice the dose of ulipristal acetate contained in Ella, followed by misoprostol, the second drug used in the typical medical abortion regimen. All but four women completed their pregnancies without further intervention, a completion rate of 97 percent that is similar to that of the regimen using mifepristone. (The others completed the process with additional medications or a procedure.)

There were no serious complications, and the study concluded that using ulipristal acetate as part of a two-drug abortion regimen was safe.

Dr. Beverly Winikoff, lead author of the study and president of Gynuity Health Projects, a reproductive health research organization, said that after the Supreme Court struck down the nation’s right to abortion in 2022, she began to wonder about the possible role of ulipristal acetate. , which has a chemical structure similar to that of mifepristone.