Analysis

Study reveals shocking risks of miscoding abortion pill complications as miscarriage-related

abortion, abortion emergency, complications

A new peer-reviewed study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) published in the journal “Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology” reveals the dangers posed by mischaracterizing abortion-related complications as miscarriage-related. The study utilized Medicaid records from the 17 states wherein state taxpayer funds are used for abortion, and “conduct[ed] a 17-year longitudinal analysis of 423,000 confirmed abortions and 121,283 confirmed subsequent visits to an emergency room within 30 days of the abortion by women over 13 years of age, with at least one identifiable pregnancy between 1999 and 2015,” according to CLI’s press release.

A previous CLI study had established that 60.9% of abortion-related emergency room visits following chemical abortion are miscoded as miscarriage-related. “[C]oncern that this misinformation … might result in sub-optimal care and, subsequently, an increased likelihood of hospital admission” provoked the recently-published analysis.

Its findings are striking.

Women whose abortions were miscoded as miscarriages in the ER were more likely to be hospitalized for any reason than women whose abortions were accurately reported. Women whose chemical abortions were miscoded further exhibited a pattern of multiple hospitalizations in the 30 days following their abortions – an average of 3.2 per patient compared to 1.8 for those not miscoded. In other words, the number of hospital admissions per patient was 78% higher in the miscoded group. 

READ: Lawsuit against Planned Parenthood: Abortion pill caused toilet delivery of ‘fully formed’ 30-week baby

“A patient’s concealment of a chemical abortion, and/or the ER staffs’ failure to identify the failed abortion attempt, are risk factors for multiple hospital admissions and delayed provision of necessary surgical treatment,” the study concludes. “Abortion providers should advise women that they may be at increased risk of multiple hospitalizations and surgical intervention if they do not inform medical personnel that they are experiencing an abortion complication.”

However, women are being encouraged by an increasing number of abortionists and pro-abortion sources to lie and claim they are experiencing a miscarriage, should they need to visit the emergency room. This is clearly a grave disservice to the women the abortion industry claims to champion, putting them at significantly increased risk of serious health outcomes. 

Editor’s Note, 5/31/22: This post has been updated for clarification of the 86% surgery statistic.

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