A new study says that since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, the percentage of people who say they've tried to end the pregnancy outside the medical system has gone up.

The study from a University of California San Francisco research group called

Advancing New Standards and Reproductive Health offers new details on who

appears to be most affected by new abortion restrictions.

Shefali Luther is reproductive health reporter for the 19th news

and she's the author of Undue Burden, Life and Death Decisions in Post Row America.

First of all, Schifoli, the term they use in the study is self-managed abortions.

They say it's trying to end a pregnancy outside the medical system. What are they talking about? What does that mean?

I think this is a really important point to clarify because self-managed abortion is quite broad and

there are all sorts of mechanisms people can use and have used for decades,

even centuries to try to end a pregnancy without the support of a health care provider,

whether that's a physician or a nurse or what have you. And so in this paper they looked at people

who use methods that may or may not work, things like herbal supplements, they looked at things

like trying to inflict harm upon oneself to end a pregnancy,

and they also looked upon using medication independently without the supervision of a physician,

which can be quite safe and very effective but is considered

itself managed abortion.

And what we've seen is that this broad array of ways in which people try and end pregnancies on their own.

It's always existed and has always been a means used by people who don't feel comfortable

in or feel safe in or have access to reproductive health care through the medical system.

But it's also becoming more common now because of abortion bans and because there are people who

when they want to end a pregnancy will end one no matter what but may not have the means to for instance travel outside

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